


Heart Of Honor

by itz_blitz_tyme



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Origin Story, Arranged Marriage, Attempted Murder, Blood and Violence, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship, Gen, Impersonation, Military Training, Mulan (1998) References, Multi, Nudity, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 06:34:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3718732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itz_blitz_tyme/pseuds/itz_blitz_tyme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To save her father from death at war, Haruno Sakura takes his place to joining the Ninja Academy. Unfortunately, only males are allowed, so she pretents to be a man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A fanfiction that was on FF.net but transferred to here.

The village of Konohakagure was asleep, what more could be said. Usually it was alive with activity but it was late in the evening. So the people were sleeping. They slept in their beds, unaware that there was a horror coming towards their country of Fire. They were too used to the peace and prosperity, too used to the way of their life. And too used to it being quiet at night. Hardly anything stirred that night.

Except one man.

The Third Hokage, the leader and ruler of the Fire Country had woken up earlier, due his regular back pains. He was an old man and did get them occasionally. Tonight they were pretty bad. 

And that's how he knew something was wrong. Whenever his back was aching rather terribly as it was now, something was wrong in the world. Some of dangerous force was approaching their country. And that's why he was up. He was waiting for the report to come in.

The thing was about Konoha was it produced the best of the best, Shinobi, great warriors to protect the village and be hired by others for certain tasks. Sometimes the missions that were given were dangerously hard, some were so easy that it only took an hour to complete. But they did what they could to help people and protect their village. They used their very own Chakra, energy to do their duty, using the greatest techniques of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even genjutsu.

And that was who brought the report; a Shinobi.

The Shinobi, a young Chuunin, the second rank of Shinobi, found the Hokage in his office, sitting on soft pillows while working on a scroll. He was dressed fully in his official robes with his hat sitting right next to him. And when the young nin arrived, he didn't even look up.

"Young Iruka," The Hokage said softly without looking away from his scroll. "You have news for me?"

The nin, Iruka didn't look surprised that the man knew something was up. He was very aware how perceptive the old man was. Instead, he moved forward and bowed down to one knee, just to be respectful. "Master Hokage-sama, a report just came in. Unusual nin have crossed the border into the Fire Country." He lifted his head, looking rather serious. "Most of the outside guards have been killed but one. He was injured but he has reported that Lord Orochimaru is leading them."

There was a long silence as the Hokage paused from finishing his scroll. He held his calligraphy brush over the scroll, taking in the information very carefully. But after a minute, he went back to the scroll, his aged and wrinkled face full of concentration and thought.

This was a reaction that Iruka had not counted on. He blinked a few times before straightening himself. "Master Hokage?"

"Hmm?" The old man hummed as he tilted his head towards him, finally looking at the young man. "Oh, I've heard you, Iruka. I am not afraid of Orochimaru but I fear for our people in the Country. The people outside Konoha Village. They are in grave danger if it is Orochimaru that is coming this way. The village is well protected, the people are not." He stopped from his scroll again, gently setting the brush down. "Iruka, send for the ANBU and give them my order to going after Orochimaru and his men. But tell them to be careful." He told Iruka, who nodded before he turned and left.

The order was given to the greatest ranks of Shinobi and was carried out. But only a few weeks later, a message came back. It was inscribed in the back of a dead ANBU.

The Hokage was not sitting in his council chambers, listening to a number of ANBU generals arguing about the danger of the situation. He wasn't surprised to see a few panicking. The danger was highly qualified and it did intend to make everyone fear.  
The report that came in, along with the message, was of all fifty ANBU that had been dispatched to take care of Orochimaru and his army was killed in action. And now there was a terrible threat coming towards Konoha. The message had been clear. It had said that if Konoha did not surrender, all of Fire Country would perish in its own name. By the flames of fire would swallow up the people and destroy the Hidden Village of the Leaf.  
So that was what the council and the ANBU were trying to decide. To surrender to Orochimaru's demands or fight. The Shinobi were almost at each other's throats as they tried to come up with a plan. Only few remained as calm as the Hokage. They knew that if the Hokage was not panicking, then there was nothing to worry about.

"This is war! We must dispatch all Shinobi to attack Orochimaru and his army!" One ANUB Jounin exclaimed.

"All of the them?! Are you insane?!" Another shouted. "Fifty of our best ANBU were killed! And you know as well as I do that Orochimaru is a Legendary Ninja! He's UNSTOPPABLE! Why not just surrender?!"

This brought another round of protests. "You coward, Jinta! We can't surrender to him!" Another Shinobi shouted right back. "He would kill us for sure or make us his slaves! We must fight!"

The Hokage finally held up his hands for silence and the action did not go unnoticed. Immediately, everyone shut up and turned their attention onto their leader. When it was completely quiet, the Hokage sighed as he folded his hands together again. "The loss of our ANBU is a great one to us. And I will never forget what they tried to do for our village. But we will survive. Orochimaru does not know what he is dealing with. He has angered a slumbering giant and will be severely punished. We will fight for our honor, our lives and our village." Several Shinobi smiled at the speech while the others looked worried. As if he read those minds, he shook his head. "I am very aware that our numbers are down, so therefor, we will recruit more Shinobi for our army." He turned his head to the side to see one of the still calmed Shinobi.

This Shinobi was definitely a stand out among the group. He was rather handsome and young looking but was strong and proud. He had golden blonde hair on his head, with patches sticking up into the air in many directions. Spiky bangs hung over cerulean blue eyes, which were full of serious concentration, yet thoughtfulness. He was one of the top Shinobi in the room, one of the best. Everyone respected him because he was considered the strongest Shinobi.

"Minato-san," The Hokage said softly, making the Shinobi look at him so peacefully. "Send out messengers to every clan in the Fire Country. We will acquire one son of each clan, maybe more if they are the right age, to join the Ninja Academy and serve the Konoha Shinobi Army. They will have to be fit and ready, so they will need the best trainers we have. So we may need some of the old ANBU." The old man nodded as he spoke, as if he was convincing himself that this was the best plan. "I will leave it to you to put together the trainers and the perfect commander of the new recruits."

The golden haired Shinobi smiled before bowing low at the waist in respect to his Hokage. "Very well, Hokage-sama." He spoke gently. "I know the right people for the jobs. And I will personally deliver the messages to the clans, if I must." He stood up straight, looking still at the Hokage. "I will acquire young men of the age of 18 and up to train. A child under that age has no business on the battlefield."

"Good." The Hokage spoke in satisfaction. "You are still the great Shinobi my pupil has taught you to be, Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato. Stay that way." He then looked around at everyone else. "We must be ready within the year, for Orochimaru has told us he would attack the village in a year. He's playing his games with us, of course, so therefore, we will play along. We must be ready within the year. So, go prepare, my Shinobi, with honor."  
Every Shinobi bowed in respect before they gone with a quick hand sign a flash of smoke and leaves curling around their once places. The Hokage waited for a minute before he looked worried out the window, finally expressing the emotion he had been hiding from his young students. "Gods help us. For to beat Orochimaru, it will take a miracle."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction is a direct transferred copy from FF.net and it was one of my first fanfics ever written so try and be kind on commenting and please no flamming. It is completed but I will be taking my time updating the chapters each day. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

The morning sun slowly rose higher into the ocean blue sky, with only silver white clouds slowly curling and rolling across the cerulean color. The morning larks were already singing their songs of happiness and love while creatures of nature were going about their normal routine.

It was the beginning of a beautiful and bright day.

The Haruno Clan was a small family but well known by the head of the Clan, Haruno Daisuka; Suka for short. Suka had once been Shinobi for the Fire Country and once was a close friend of the Third Hokage. He had served as a bodyguard once and had saved the young son of the Hokage from bandits long ago. But now he was retired after a terrible leg wound that left him with a limp. Now he lived with his family in the countryside of Fire, only a few miles from Konoha Village. He was married to a beautiful maiden and had bore no sons, but one daughter. A daughter he loved more than life itself.

Haruno Sakura was now 18 years old and of the age to become a bride. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she kept it to herself. It was a custom of the Country's to not complain about what they are given, especially if they were women. Women did not have very many rights these days, and mostly all didn't care about complaining. Except Sakura, but she only complained to her father, who only laughed.  
She, herself, was a good-looking girl, beautiful in the eyes of many men; mostly the hands that worked on the Clan's home grounds. She had beautiful, long cherry blossom pink hair, spilling down in silky locks around her waist and the greenest eyes, the colors of leaves. Her face was still very young though, and she was still developing. But as of now, she was still good looking.

As of now, Sakura was reading a book, studying for her big test that she would be taking that day. She was trying to memorize all of the skills of being a housewife, which she found very dull. She was going to meet a matchmaker today, along with several other girls her age, to see if she was bride material. And if she was, the matchmaker would find a match for her; would find a husband for her.

"Hmm. This is easy. I can do all of this." Sakura said softly as she looked through the books. She then looked out her window, noting how high the sun as getting now. She knew she needed to start getting ready. This was her big day, though she wasn't too thrilled. She wasn't sure if she wanted to do this but her parents did. So that's why she was doing it. Without a word, Sakura climbed out of her bed and began pulling out her clothes she was going to wear to the village. She made sure to wear something nice, even though she was going to change out of it once she got to the village. She didn't pull her hair up, but did put her red headband in to keep her bangs from falling in her eyes.

As soon as she was dressed, she went to the kitchen and began to prepare a pot of tea, but already found the pot over the electric stove. Sakura smiled, shaking her head. She knew that her mother had already started the tea and knew that if she hadn't done it, her daughter would have made herself late by trying to prepare the pot of tea for Suka. So with her pretty smile, Sakura grabbed the pot and a teacup and went out into the gardens to try and locate her father.

It was the usual place he spent his hours, the cherry orchard. It was his and Sakura's favorite spot on their land. And that's where she found him. Daisuka was kneeling in the green grass, meditating under their favorite cherry tree, which was the biggest in the orchard. The cherry blossoms were just barely started to bloom in the cherry trees. They were pink as Sakura's hair and that was probably why Suka was there.

"Father," Sakura said gently as she went over to him. "It's time for your morning tea."

Suka's lips curved upward into a gentle smile before he opened his eyes and looked up at her. He watched her as she bent down next to him and poured him the tea. "Sakura, you should be on your way to the village. It is a big day for you." He told her, smiling still. Sakura just shook her heads as she held out the cup for him take. "I know. But I wanted to make sure you got your tea. The medic nin said you're to drink two cups of tea, twice a day. One in the morning and one at night." She told him.  
"Hmm." Suka hummed with pleasantly. "My little Cherry, you mustn't worry about me right now. Hurry and get to town. It's up to you to uphold our family tree and our honor." He saw her look away with a sigh. He knew she wasn't pleased to hear that but she wanted to please him. He sighed as he reached over and took her hand. "Sakura, you are not pleased with this arrangement." He said it more a question.

Sakura looked up at him, faintly smiling. "Not really. I really hoped that I didn't have to meet a matchmaker. Arranged marriages aren't really my idea of finding love." She told him.

Suka slowly shook his head as he linked his fingers with hers. "Sakura, as much as I want you to find love of your own, it is tradition to go through the matchmaking process. Our clan is small and it will fade if we don't join together with a bigger clan. And only the matchmaker can match a son and daughter from two different clans." He gently pushed his daughter's bangs out of her green eyes. "When matched up with a heir, Cherry, you may find love. Just be patient." He told her.

Sakura sighed but nodded. "All right. I'll try, father." She told him.

"You should go now." Daisuka said softly pushing her away. "The matchmaker is not a patient woman. And you must look like a bride for her." He said, watching Sakura stand up. He smiled as he looked her over. "You will be the most beautiful."

Sakura smiled at him as she backed away from him. "Thanks, dad. Bye!" And she turned and ran away from him.  
Not long, Sakura arrived in the Konoha Village, hurrying over to a large building, which was alive with activity. There were already girls there waiting, ready to see the matchmaker. Their mothers close by, helping them keeping beautiful. Sakura's own mother, Haruno Rukia, was waiting impatiently for her, along with some of their female hands. They all looked relieved when she came hurrying towards them. Rukia sighed in relief. "Oh, it's about time." She then frowned seeing leaves in her daughter's hair. "And you went through the trees, didn't you?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose at her mother. "Mom, I was making sure dad got his tea. And I took a short cut on getting here." She complained. Rukia just shook her head as she grabbed her daughter's arm and dragged her inside to get ready.

Once inside, Sakura was pushed into a bath and forced to wash herself and her hair. She was given specialized shampoos for her hair and soap to make herself very clean and to smell good. After that, she dried herself and was pushed into another room where a Kimono was shoved into her arms and she received an order to put it on by one of the dressers. Sakura pulled a face but did what she was told. She didn't get it all the way on when a few of the dressers decided that she needed help and began roughly pulling it together. Once she was dressed, she was shoved into a chair where maids beginning to roughly brush her hair. Much to her discomfort, her hair was yanked and pulled until she had tears in her eyes. She tried to complain but a woman told her to shut up and let them do their work. So she listened.

Almost an hour later, she was done. The maids had done up her hair, makeup and helped her dress completely. When she was shoved into a room full of other young women, fully dressed. Now, Sakura was dressed in a beautiful red and pink kimono with cherry blossoms all over a tree. A red comb with an orchid was stuck in her hair to keep the bun from falling out. She truly did look like a bride.

Sakura couldn't help but look around at the many girls in the room. She had never seen so many beautiful kimonos in her life. Some were of many colors, others were the same. And some were definitely more richly like than her own. She was almost the only one wearing a pink kimono though.

"Oh, look. It's Forehead." A beautiful blonde young woman said as soon as she spotted Sakura. She walked over, flaunting her richly blonde hair, which was only half down. She was dressed in a light blue kimono with water designs in it.

Sakura, however, frowned when she saw her but then shook her head, forcing a smile. "Hey, Ino-pig." She said coolly. "I see you're here wasting your time."

Ino glared at her, while a few other young women shook their heads. "Me? Wasting my time? Ha! Look who's talking, billboard! No man would ever want your big forehead! They'll probably just use it for memos to stick on!" She snapped. Both girls glared at one another, while their mothers tried to shush them.  
"Hey, Sakura, Ino. It's good to see that you two haven't changed too much." A pretty black haired girl said with two buns on both sides of her head. She was wearing a silver and red kimono with an attractive autumn design on it.  
Sakura folded her arms as she turned away from Ino but then shrugged to her. "Hello, Tenten." She paused to look a timid looking girl with violate colored hair next to the first. "Hinata. So you're here too, huh."

Both girls nodded, though the timid one, Hinata looked extremely worried, twiddling her fingers and touching her bottom lip as she looked nervously around. "Ye-yes. I…I'm a little ex-excited that we're getting ma-matched up today. But nervous." She said in a quiet voice.  
Sakura didn't reply while Ino just smirked softly. "You're always nervous, Hinata. But I'm excited too! I don't really see a point of me seeing a matchmaker. Because I know that I'm going to be paired up with a Uchiha! I just hope it's going to be that really hot one, Uchiha Sasuke! We'd make a perfect pair!" She said happily.  
Sakura glared even harder at Ino, her face starting to turn red with rage. In truth, she had her eyes on that one as well. Everyone knew that the Uchiha clan was one of the most powerful clans in the Fire Country. There were many sons in the Uchiha clan, though it was said that one of the oldest sons was gone, banished for being a fool. But there was only one left that needed to be matched up and that was the youngest, Sasuke. Sakura had hoped that she could match up with Sasuke. He was about her age, as well. "As if, Ino-pig! I'll be the one who gets Sasuke!" She said loudly. Again they glared at one another, fire dancing in their eyes as they glared murderously at each other.

But before a fight could break out, the door to the matchmaker's private chambers slammed open and a very beautiful woman with long blond hair and vicious blue eyes entered. She was garbed in a gray kimono, but was made of fine fabric. Right behind her, was a lovely black haired woman wearing a gentle brown kimono, looking just as pretty. She was carrying a clipboard in her arms.  
"All right!" The blonde woman said in a loud, clear voice. "Let's get started. When I call your name, come inside immediately. No speaking unless I say something to you first!" No one replied because they were staring wide eyed at her. She was clearly the kind you did not want to mess around with. "Good! Now, first one up." The matchmaker pointed to her assistant, who nodded as she looked at the clipboard. She was quiet for a moment as she looked at the names before tapping the paper with one finger.

"First one is, Hyuuga Hinata."

The timid young woman flinched as if someone had snapped a whip at her before she shivered and moved forward, her face red with a blush and she looked like she was going to cry in fear. Sakura gave her a look of encouragement who still looked afraid as she disappeared inside the chambers. The door slammed shut as the matchmaker and her assistant followed her.

It was a long time before the door open again and she came back out, her face was pale while her eyes wide with shock and fear. She looked extremely flustered as she hurried back to the girls she had been with, muttering under her breath, sounding way too confused and afraid. Once she joined the girls, they were trying to get Hinata to tell them what happened and who she had been paired up with, but the poor girl stumbled over her words that they didn't understand what she said. The next one was a girl Sakura didn't even know. It was like that for a while.

Sakura just stood in silence, playing with her fingers as she tried to think of what was going to happen. She really hoped that she would be matched up with Uchiha Sasuke. But what if she wasn't? Who else would she get? What other clans were there anyway? She didn't know very many. She never really paid attention them very much.  
There were only a few clans she knew of. The Uchiha clan of course, was one of them. No one didn't know about that family. Then there was Hinata's clan, the Hyuuga Clan. There was another clan called the Lee-Maito, which was actually built up by two clans. She didn't know too much about that one though. Then there was the Namikaze Clan, which was said to be a very highly ranked clan. She didn't know much about them either. Only that they were not easy to get paired up with. But what other clans were there that was available for matching?

"Haruno Sakura."

Sakura's attention immediately snapped back to reality as soon as she heard her name. She quickly jumped to her feet and rose a hand into the air. "Here!" She called mindlessly. She was already moving forward towards the matchmaker, who was now glaring at her. Hesitantly, the pink haired girl slowed her pace, realizing that she did something wrong. She caught Ino sniggering and that just angered her even more. But she knew if she said anything, she would get into more trouble.

So she went through the door way without another word, followed by the matchmaker and her assistant, who slammed the door shut, making her jump.

"All right." The matchmaker began as she moved across the room to where Sakura had placed herself. "Shizune, make sure you get everything like I told you." She said sternly.  
The assistant nodded once before bowing her head in great respect for the matchmaker. "Yes, Lady Tsunade-sama." She turned to Sakura, who was looking between both of them in curiosity. "State your name, your clan and your age, please." She said pleasantly.

Sakura nodded as she folded her hands together, feeling only a little nervous. She didn't like the matchmaker too much, for the woman sounded very onry and didn't seem like the kind that she might get along with. "My name is Haruno Sakura, daughter of Haruno Daisuka and Rukia. I am 18 years old, ma-am." She said as politely as she could.

The assistant nodded as she jotted it down on the clipboard while the matchmaker, Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she looked her over. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to be searching for something out of place but then she found it. She lifted her head up higher as she moved closer. "Stand up tall." She ordered. Sakura quickly did what she was told and stood up as straight as she could. Tsunade then began to circle her, still looking her over. Her eyes paused on the pink haired girl's forehead, making her shift uncomfortably. "Hmm. Such a large forehead.. Not too common." She smirked when she saw Sakura grimace. "But you're pretty nonetheless." She remarked and that seemed to help a little. "Do you like children?"

Sakura looked a little surprised but then nodded as she looked directly at the matchmaker. "Yes, I suppose I do. They can be a little troublesome, though. I was when I was a child. At least that's what my father told me. But he still loved me the same. Children are fun to play with." She said smiling a little.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes in thought, though it looked like she was a little annoyed with such a long answer. "How many children are you going to have?"

Sakura felt a little flustered by the question, especially on how personal they were but she had an answer anyway. "I suppose it would depend on the situation, ma-am." She said simply. She saw both of the women in the room with her frown in confusion, one actually raising her eyebrow. She knew that she had better hurry and give a clearer answer than she had just given her. "Oh, well, it depends on the first child. If the child was to be a perfect angel, then yes. I would like more than one child. But if they were a hellraiser, I'll probably debate on it."

"Hmm." The matchmaker hummed, but Sakura could tell that she was amused by the answer. Even the assistant thought it was funny. She was smiling behind the clipboard and shaking her head. "Shizune, what is the answer that all of the other young women having been giving us?" The matchmaker asked, waving a hand towards her.

"Oh, the correct answer is that it depended on how many the husband would want." Shizune told Sakura.

Sakura winced but relaxed again when Tsunade just waved her hand as if waving away her embarrassment. "The answer will do, though." She said simply before going back to looking at Sakura, her eyes pausing down at her thighs. That really made the pink haired girl uneasy. "You are a virgin, are you not?"

"Wha-what?!" Sakura asked flabbergasted, her face turning hot red. "I'm a wha-what?"

Tsunade smirked, rolling her eyes. "That answers my question." She paused moving towards the table now. "Sit down and pour us some tea." She ordered. Sakura nodded quickly and did so. She paused over the two cups before looking at Shizune with such curiousity. "Would you like some tea too?"  
The question seemed to surprise Shizune, for she stepped back, eyes lit up. She even held out the clipboard as if using it as a shield. Her eyes flickering over to see if Tsunade was ready to explode but to her surprise, the blonde woman rose her eyebrow at her assistant. "Well, Shizune? Answer her. Do you want a cup?" She asked, in a strict tone. The assistant quickly shook her head, afraid that if she did say yes, she might get yelled at. "N-no….thank you."

Sakura nodded, glancing questionably at Tsunade but pushed the cup towards her anyway. The Matchmaker just turned her eyes back onto her as she took the tea and sipped it. "Can you cook? Sew? Mend clothing? Any type of home economics?" She asked, still watching her carefully.

Sakura slowly nodded as she sipped her own tea before setting it down. "Yes, ma-am. I've learned from my mother. Once, we made this beautiful kimono for last year's spring festival and it was just so….."

"Yes or no would do." Tsunade said impatiently cutting her off. "I can see you like to talk. In my opinion, that's fine. But in a man's opinion, you should be silent. A woman is to be seen, not heard. When you speak, do it only when you are asked a question. Never bore your husband about how your day went. A woman who speaks too much is weak." She told her strictly.

Sakura slowly nodded but nodded. "I'm sorry."

Again Tsunade shook her head before tilting her head. "If given a husband, what qualities shall he have?"

Sakura looked very thoughtful at the question. She really hadn't thought too much about that. She probably should have. She wasn't sure how to answer. But then she nodded, looking directly at Tsunade. "The man I am to marry shall probably be a hard worker, strict but kind about certain things. Um, I don't mind if he is a little laid back but knows how to keep it a limit." She then shook her head, looking a little confused. "I don't know. It's not easy trying to think of a man's qualities. I think the most I want in a relationship is love. I just want love. I really don't like the idea of an arranged marriage. Especially with a total stranger." She told the woman.

Now Tsunade was giving her a dull look as she tapped her nails on the table. "Love?" She asked skeptically. "Do you honestly think that love will bring your family true honor?"

Sakura was taken aback by that reaction. But she nodded. She believed in love the most. It was the passion her parents hand that encouraged her. "I do. Love is…."

"Love is a waste of time! It's nothing but trouble! It will not bring honor to your family, Haruno Sakura. It brings only pain and suffering." Tsunade said angrily. Sakura could immediately tell that something had happened this woman, something bad. She wondered exactly why the woman would see love as a troubling matter. "No man cares about love. Love has nothing to do with matchmaking. Change your request for love or do not find honor." The matchmaker said.

Sakura still looked flabbergasted but shook her head slowly. She did not believe that for a fact. Love was not pain or dishonorable. It was something she wanted the most. The perfect love. The kind that her parents shared with one another. "I…..I can't change it, Lady Tsunade-sama. I want the love." She saw Shizune wince and knew that had been a bad thing to say.

The matchmaker's lip curled back a little before she stood up, slowly. "Miss Haruno," She said pointing towards the door. "There is no match for foolish girls who spend their time dreaming about love. If you truly want love, I would suggest you take a Hatake as a husband! They are fools who cherish love as much as you do. But I would not advise it. They are most dishonorable, an embarrassment in society! Now, why don't you leave, you foolish girl!" She snapped.

Sakura flinched but quickly stood up and hurried towards the door, tears blinding her vision as she rushed out of the room. She saw a few surprised people staring after her as she pushed the door open, but she did not pay any attention to them at all. She just hurried out of the building and started on her way home, not waiting for her mother.


	3. Chapter 3

Upon the return home, Sakura was still in tears as she entered the gates of her home. She was so embarrassed. She could believe that woman was so mean like that. Not to mention, that she had dishonored her clan just because she wanted love. Was she really that foolish to desire love? Did no man care for love but a perfect wife to do whatever he told her to do? And there was another question that she wanted to be answered. 

"Who in the world are the Hatake Clan?" She muttered as she made her way past the gates, wiping her eyes. 

She was so embarrassed. She had seen Ino watching her as she hurried past the blonde, watching her cry. She had seen the raise of her eyebrow, yet there was just a little confusion and worry on her face, as she glanced uneasily towards the door of the matchmaker's chambers. Sakura knew sooner or later that the entire village, maybe even the Country of Fire would hear about her disgrace. News travelled rather fast around those parts.

"Sakura, my little cherry."

Sakura groaned when she heard her father call to her softly. She didn't want to face him just yet. She didn't want to let him know that she had just dishonored his clan. So she picked up her pace and hurried towards the orchards, still not looking at Suka.

Luckily, he did not pursue her.

She hurried towards the gates of her garden, pausing to look over her shoulder to see what her father might have looked like, and he was speaking to her mother. They both looked a little upset, so she knew that her mother had just to him what had happened with the matchmaker. They knew that she, Sakura, had cost them a lot of respect and honor.

Sadly, she went into the garden to be alone. She went to her favorite cherry tree and sat under it, crying. She couldn't believe herself. She hated the fact that she might have been a weakling, a foolish dreamer who desired love out of a marriage. The words of the matchmaker had hit her heart pretty hard. She knew that her parents loved each other, knew that they were matched up for a reason. She remembered how her mother had said she had been just like her, not wanting to get married to some stranger, but then again, she and Daisuka had not been strangers.

She was there for an hour, crying under her tree when she saw her father enter the gardens. She winced before burying her head into her arms, not wanting him to look at her face. She was too embarrassed and ashamed.

Suka spotted her under the tree and faintly smiled as he walked over to her and bent down next to her, sitting by her. He looked at her for a long time before looking up at the tree's lovely blossoms. "My, what beautiful blossoms we have this year." He said thoughtfully. He saw Sakura lift her head a little, still not looking up at him. "They grow beautifully every time you shed your love and nurture them, my little cherry."

Now, Sakura looked up at him, a merely glance. She was trying to figure out where he was going with this. Her father was not very easy to read or figure out, in her opinion.

"Love," Suka started, seeing her flinch with a pained look. "Is a marvelous thing, Sakura. It is what makes a marriage work. Many may not see it the way you do, but I'm glad you cherish it." He reached down at gently pulled one of her arms loose so he could hold her hand. With his other hand, he reached up and gently pulled her beautiful pink hair out of his bun so that it would spill down her back. "You are a beautiful bride, Cherry."

Sakura finally smiled as she shook her hair out of her eyes before she leaned against her father, tightening her hold on his. "I'm so sorry, father, for dishonoring you. I just wanted to be matched up who saw things the way I do. I wanted to find love before marriage." She told him.

"I know." Suka told her smiling, his arm wrapping around her, giving her a comforting squeeze. "And you did not dishonor me, cherry. You have actually honored me more than anyone realizes. You desire the most powerful element and that's the most honorable way a daughter can give to her old man."

Sakura just smiled before she remembered the name that the matchmaker had given her. She still wanted to know who that was. It was a clan she was not familiar with. But maybe, more than likely, Suka did know who they were.

"Father, who are the Hatake clan?" She saw the surprised look that Suka gave her at the question. "It was a name that the matchmaker told me about. She said that if I wanted love, I probably would want a…."

Before she could finish, they heard the sounds of a bell on the outside the residence. Both looked up to see one of their hands hurry towards them, looking flustered. Suka and Sakura stood up, looking at him with concern, both wondering what was wrong. But the hand just pointed towards the gates. "Master Suka-san, there are visitors here to see you! They want to see you and your family right now." He looked even more flustered. "They're Shinobi."

Sakura's eyes snapped wide open with surprise. She had heard of the Shinobi but never seen them before. She knew that if they were coming around, there was definitely trouble or urgent news to be told. She looked up at her father with worry but there was a gentle look on his face as he started towards the gates. She quickly followed after him, wanting to see them for herself.

Outside, in the courtyard there were at least six Shinobi, almost all of them dressed in black garb. Their forehead protectors with the symbol of the leaf were shining in the sunlight. Each Shinobi looked very proud as they stood tall and around the only Shinobi who wasn't wearing black. 

This one stood out in the ground the most. He was a tall and strong looking man, a little younger than her own father. His wild hair was the color of gold and his eyes were cerulean blue. He was wearing deep blue clothing under a white sleeveless jacket that fell down around his ankles. Fire embroidery surrounded the hem, making its way up but not entirely. He was a very handsome man for his age, kind and yet firm.

Sakura did not know him at all but Suka sure seemed to.

Daisuka looked surprised to see him at first but them smiled brightly as he moved forward with his limp and bowed delicately to the Shinobi. "Ah, Namikaze Minato. What a grand surprise to see the honored son of my old friend, and the greatest Shinobi in history. What brings you here for a grand visit?"

The man, Minato just smiled at the flattery as he bowed back to Suka before standing up straight. He pulled out a scroll from his belt and held it. "Hmm. You flatter me, my father's old friend. But it is you who was to be the greatest, as far as I'm concerned, Honorable Haruno Daisuka." He now frowned as he lifted the scroll a little towards Suka. "But I'm not here for a visit. This is not a social call. I'm afraid that I have terrible news to spread all over the Fire Country. The tyrant and enemy of our enemy, Orochimaru has invaded our country and war is unavoidable. He has brought scores of enemy nin to attack our humble home." He shook his head when he saw the alarmed looks on the Haruno clan's faces. "I'm afraid that every son of every clan must report to the Konoha Ninja Training camp for duty. There, they will be trained for battle. They will be trained by the finest Shinobi we have." He held out the scroll to Suka. "Have your son report to the camp near the Forest of Death, where he will be trained."

A deep frown curled on Suka's face but he reached for the scroll anyway. He didn't even pay attention to the look on his daughter's face. "No son, Minato-san. I, myself, will report to the training camp." He told the blonde, who looked a little surprised at what was said but then he nodded as he pushed the scroll closer to Suka.

"NO!" Sakura gasped as she hurried forward. She ignored some of the looks she got from some of the Shinobi and the surprised look on Minato's face. She saw how a few were scowling at her for stepping out of her place and saying anything, while the blonde looked thoughtfully at her. "Father! You mustn't go!" She begged before looking at Minato, shaking her head. "Please, sir. My father has already served in the war for the honored village of leaf. He's too old to fight. There are other young men that can fight this war. But not my father….."

One of the Shinobi in black stepped forward, glaring at her in rage. It was obvious he was highly annoyed with her and looked like he was getting ready to strike her. "Silence! You speak out of place, girl!" He then went quiet when Minato shot him a look and held up a hand to him, telling him to step back into his own place. But then he turned his eyes onto Sakura, looking stern but kind at the same time.

"You would do well to keep silent, young lady. It is dishonorable to your clan. So use your head." He then looked at Suka. "Better teach her to stay in her place, Master Haruno-sama. Not everyone is always kind towards women as I am." He warned him.

Suka looked grave but nodded in agreement. His eyes flickered over to Sakura, looking rather serious. "Sakura, you dishonor me. Keep silent and speak no more."

Sakura stepped back, looking surprised and hurt as if she had just been punched in the stomach. But she knew that she had embarrassed her father and felt guilty for it. So she lowered her head and stepped back with a sigh. "Forgive me, father."

Daisuka just shook his head as he looked back at Minato and took the scroll firmly in his hand. "I will report to the Ninja Camp as ordered, Master Namikaze Minato-san." He bowed before turning and limped back to the house. He knew that people were watching him but he showed no weakness, or at least tried to.

Sakura watched her father from the corner of her eye before she turned away to go back to the gardens. She already saw the Shinobi taking their leave already. Her mother was following her father into the house to speak to him about the matter.

With a sigh, Sakura made her way towards the garden, but before she could get too far, she felt someone grab her arm. She was startled for a moment but realized that the hand on her arm was not being threatening, but kind. So she knew it wasn't one of the Shinobi trying to punish her for speaking out of term. But before she could turn to see who it was, a hand pressed against her back to keep her from doing so.

"Just wise advice, young lady," She heard the voice of the golden haired Shinobi, Minato say gently in her ear. "But do not do anything foolish. At least something too stupid. If you wish to do something, use your heart to decide but your brain to do it wisely." And then his hand was gone.

Sakura turned around to look at him but to her surprise, he was gone. There was only smoke and leaves curling around her, showing that he had dematerialized away from her. She stood there for a long moment, letting his words settle in her mind. She wasn't sure what he had meant but she would think about it later. So she went inside, still thinking about Minato's words.

 

That night, the three members of the clan were sitting at the table for dinner, all silent as ever. Usually they would be talking to one another, laughing about their day. But since the visit of the Shinobi, no one had spoken to one another. Sakura kept glancing at her parents, seeing how tense everyone was. Her mother looked upset, while her father sat up tall and serious like.

But finally, the silence got to her. It had to stop.

"Father, you are not going to war. You're too old to do so. There are plenty of young men to fight for the Fire Country. But you can't…." Sakura was saying as she placed her tea up down. 

Suka raised his serious eyes and looked her right in the eye. "And who do you think is head of this family? If you didn't know better, I am the man of the house and you are my daughter." He said sternly. 

Sakura just frowned at him. She never argued with her father like this but she was too stubborn to let it go. "Father, you will die fighting…."

"I would die fighting for my family, Sakura." Suka said, his voice starting to raise. "My family and the Hidden Village of Leaf's honor. That's all that matters to me." He told her.

Sakura shook her head as she stood up sharply. She was not going to let him win this argument and let him throw away his life when he could not fight. "Daddy, I don't want you to go! This war will kill you! You have a limp from the last war and it has slowed you…!" She was saying.

Suka slammed his fists on the table and forced himself to stand up, his eyes glaring fiercely into his daughter's. His actions spilt the tea all over the table. "I know my place, Sakura! So know yours! You are a woman! I am a man! Men serve in wars, protecting what is rightfully theirs! Women do what they are told to do! So be silent or so help me, I will show you what happens when a woman questions a man!" He shouted at her. 

Sakura stepped back with shock and fear. Never in her life had her father threatened her before. Never had he rose his voice to her, yelled at her, or even looked at her like that. She couldn't help but just stare at him with a trembling lip before she turned and fled the room, tears pouring from her eyes. She was hurt. Her father was going to die and she couldn't do anything about it.

It was very late in the evening when she heard him in his small dojo. It had been a long time since he last went in there. Sakura was trying to go to sleep in her room but couldn't from the troubled feeling she felt deep within her heart. She had nearly cried herself to sleep. But now, hearing him enter the dojo, she was curious.

So, Sakura got up from her bed and crept down the hall to the room. She carefully peered around the sliding door and found her father trying to practice ninjutsu. He was punching at the air, trying to have a battle with invisible enemies. He looked very strained though. He hadn't done it for such a long time now. He had taught Sakura a little ninjutsu and she was pratically a natural but still, he hadn't done any jutsu for a long time. Suka tried to make a few kicks into the air but then he flinched from pain and cried out as he fell to the ground. He was very unaware that Sakura flinched herself and was watching him struggle to get back up. With a sigh, he leaned against the wall, half way standing up and half way bent over. He knew he was in no shape for any war.

And Sakura knew that too. She watched in pain as her father tried again only to fall to the ground again, breathing hard from pain in his limp leg. She couldn't stand this anymore. She knew that if he went to war, he would not last very long. She knew that he would die and probably be dishonored, and if that happened, if he did survive, the heartache would kill him if the war didn't. The only hope of saving him and his honor was to have his son go in his place. But the problem was, Sakura was the only child.

There was no son of Haruno.

Sakura's eyes flashed sternly as she watched her father even longer, with pain etched on her face. She wiped whatever tears there were on her face before shaking her head. "If there is no Haruno son, then I will have to become him." She thought before she rushed back to her own room. "


	4. Chapter 4

After her parents had gone to sleep, Sakura went to work immediately. She had waited till it was nearly midnight, just to make sure that her father was truly asleep before she sneaked into his room and stole the summoning scroll. She looked at him in longing, watching him sleep. She didn't want to do this, but he was giving her no choice.

Then she went into the armor and pulled out his old Shinobi uniform. She looked them over, trying to judge them if they were about her size. She knew they might be a little baggy on her but she didn't care. She needed them to be. She rolled them up into a bundle before going for some of her father's weapons. She took out his kunai holster with a few pockets full of shruikens and throwing stars, as well as took his prized Kunai.  
Once she had them, she hurried back to her room and stuffed them into a traveling bag before going to the kitchens and stole food from the cupboards. She knew she would need a good amount of food if she was going to be traveling. She decided she would make herself into a boy once she left the residence. Doing it now would probably cause a little trouble if she got caught being up.

Before leaving her room, she had paused in front of her mirror, looking at herself. There was one other problem she was facing. She did have a small chest, but it was clear that she was female. She shook her head. "Men do not have boobs." She muttered bitterly to herself. Before this happened, she had been disappointed that she had a small chest while other girls had large ones, but now, she was grateful that she didn't have big breasts. Still, it was a problem. So she went to her mother's herbal cabinet where she kept bindings. Sakura stole a few rolls, promising herself that she would take care of her problem later.

Finally, she had everything she needed together. They were all stuffed into her bag and she was now making her way outside of the Haruno clan's gates. She couldn't help but turn back and stare longingly at her home. She was half tempted of just putting this behind her and go get back in bed. But the image of her father on the ground, in pain stopped her. She would miss her family but she had to do this. This was for her father. For his life and his honor.

"Goodbye, father. I won't let you down." Sakura whispered before she was hurrying away out of the gates and into the darkness of the night.

The pink haired girl traveled for almost three hours till she was well away from the Haruno residence and any home for that matter. Once she was safely hidden in the forest, she stopped to make camp in a clearing. It was still in the springtime, so it was still just a little cool. She was really tempted to try and make a fire. But if she did that, it might bring strangers to her camp and she did not want that right now.

So, she just laid in the soft grass under a willow tree with Suka's kunai in her hands, staring down at it. There was another problem she had to face and that was her gorgeous, long pink hair.  
"Though boys don't have pink hair, they certainly don't have long, pink hair." She muttered to herself before she gently ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry, my friend. But it has to be done." She then grabbed a fist full and began to saw at her wonderful hair. She couldn't help but sob as she cut her hair short. She didn't have a mirror to help her, so she wasn't sure if she was getting it even.

Once she was done cutting her hair, Sakura used her hands to try to figure out what it now looked like. She had cut it boyish style, though it was still a little long, only to below her ears. It would have to do though. She was feeling a little too tired to cutting it again. With a sigh, she looked at the rest of her hair, shaking her head in disgust. "I'm sorry, my friend." She said softly before she began pulling off her dress and changing into her father's old clothes.

However, she stopped when before pulling on her shirt, to wrap the bindings tightly around her chest. It was not easy to flatten her chest. It took a long time to get it done by herself but she managed after an hour an a half of wrapping the bindings around her. Soon enough, her chest wasn't sticking out anymore. And then she continued to dress herself as a man. She tucked in her shirt, leaving it a little baggy and pulled on her father's Shinobi jacket.

Finally she was done and it was time for her to get some sleep. She knew she would need it. So she laid down in the grass, using her old clothes as a blanket and a pillow. It took a while to getting to sleep but finally, she fell asleep.  
It was nearly noon when she woke up again. She was almost too nervous as she got up and started her to get ready for her travels. She had to discard her dress in a river she was passing by before going on. Her hand was running through her hair, measuring the length of it. But as she traveled, she came to a forest she knew that was the Forest of Death. She stopped there for brunch and stared into a small stream.  
Sakura really did look like a boy now. Her hair was cut so short and was uneven but she knew quite a few guys that had uneven hair. She heard it was actually a little common to have uneven and wild hair. The only problem was, she was still a little too girlish looking. Her face was soft and fair looking, though she wasn't sure if that was going to be a problem or not. But to make sure, she took some dirt and rubbed it on her face. It helped just a little. She hardly recognized herself.

"Hmm. Maybe this will work after all." And then she pulled a face at the sound of her voice. Her voice was going to be a big problem. It was too soft and high pitched like a girl's. So she tried to deepen her voice, roughing it up a little. And she practiced with it as she walked.

An hour later, she found the Ninja Camp.

The Konoha Ninja Training camp was on the far south side of the village, at least five or ten miles away. It was set up at the edge of the Death Forest, with more than a hundred tents set up. There was a mesh tent where quite a few tables were. And there were men sitting on them, eating steaming plates of food. There were more wandering the camp or talking with others. It surprised Sakura to see so many men that have shown up to join the army. Quite a few of them were about her age, and a few were older, already fathers, she could tell.

And there were even more Shinobi all around the camp, seeming to be observing the new recruits.

"Okay." Sakura sighed, nervously. "Time to put on a show." And then she began making her way closer to the camp, pausing just outside the bushes to watch the men. She needed to see how the men acted, so she could copy them. And to be perfectly honest, she was starting to regret it.  
Some of the men were the most disgusting men she had ever seen. Several were spitting on the ground, a few was picking their nose and flicking it down and more than fifty was stuffing their faces with food, eating with the worst table manners she had ever seen. It was too gross to watch. A group of men were just standing around and watching the others like Sakura was doing. But a few were acting really tough and trying to pick fights.

"Hey! Move it, shrimp!"

Sakura jumped when she heard shouting, thinking it was directed to her since it was so close but then she realized that a huge man was talking to a smaller one.

"You talking to me, fatboy?!" The other yelled back. And soon they began fighting. Some men grinned and stood by to watch as the men began pounding the living daylights out of each other.

Again, Sakura felt her stomach curl and she nearly felt sick. She knew this was going to be a whole lot harder than she thought. But she still had to try. So taking a deep breath, she moved into camp.  
And to her dismay, she was noticed immediately.  
She saw several men stop what they were doing and looked at her. Sakura's face drained of color as she stared back. She was immediately wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her. More than several men were just staring at her, almost in shock. She wondered why though. Could they tell that she was not a boy? Could they see right through her? She hoped not. She knew that she could be killed for impersonating a boy. She knew the laws and heard what would happen if they were broken.

"Wh-what are you staring at?" She demanded, trying to sound like a tough boy.

Immediately, men burst into laughter, surprising her. Some were roaring so hard that they fell to their knees and began pounding the ground with their fists. Sakura sweatdropped but then stood still, her hand on her waist. "All right. I'm missing the joke, obviously. But what is so funny?"

A young man close by moved forward in a very slow manner, a smirk curled on his face as he looked her over. His black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and he actually had earrings in his ears. He looked at her rather lazily, almost in a very bored way. "You are." He said slowly. "You are the joke, dude." He reached up and grabbed a few strands of Sakura's hair before giving them a sharp tug, making her yelp in pain. "Who in the hell has pink hair?"

Sakura winced as she rubbed her head before glaring at the boy. "Ow." She then slapped his hand away as he tried to do it again. "What was that for, you jerk?!" This only made the men laugh even harder, as if she had said one of the funniest jokes on the planet. "Stop laughing! So what if I have pink hair?!"

The young man standing before her just sneered as he placed his hand on his was, shifting his weight. "Oh, how troublesome." He said rolling his eyes. "Pink hair is for girls. Not men." He sneered. Sakura felt her body grow very cold with shock, her breath nearly stopping there. She knew they must have known that she was a girl. But how? It must have been her pink hair. She knew she should have done something about its color. "I….I am not a girl! I am a man!" She said trying not to sound nervous. The boy just sneered again before he shook his head. "No, you're not." He remarked. "You are a girly boy. You're probably one of those guys who was so pampered by their mommy and were raised to be a wimp while your daddy refused to hang out with you and chose to go pork his secretary, or someone's wife or daughter, right?"

Sakura wasn't exactly sure what had happened that very second. All she knew was she felt her temper just flare up after hearing those insults. Especially the one about her father. No one ever insulted her father. Not even if she was pretending to be a boy. And that was one thing that the hands learned to never do on the Haruno residence. They had learned that Sakura had one of the worst tempers and if she lost it, they were sorry. She practically became a whole different person. And that was what happened.

"Oh! Punch his lights out!" She heard her inner voice exclaim, something she had somewhat developed while a child.

But, Sakura happily obliged into doing what she was told, though she wasn't exactly aware that she had done it until she felt her fist slam into the young man's jaw, sending him flying backward. It had startled her as much as it had startled him as he crashed into a table and made it collapse. Coffee and ramen went flying in every direction, landing on men all around the table and sitting at it.  
There were shouts of rage and pain as coffee or hot tea burned some. One young man, an energetic blonde with strange whisker like markings on his face, looked like he was going to start crying because his ramen had been ruined. Another with him, one with black spiky hair, looked incredibly angry as he had hot coffee spill all over his lap while one right by him, one with long black hair pulled back leapt up from his seat with coffee and noodles all over his front.

"Shikamaru! What are you doing, you lazy idiot?!" That one exclaimed angrily.

The young man, Shikamaru, the one that Sakura had punched quickly got up into a crouch while rubbing his aching jaw where he had been hit. He made a quick glance at the young man yelling at him before wincing. "Neji?! I'm sorry, man! Sasuke!" He then pointed at Sakura, who stepped back in shock. "He punched me! It's his fault!"

Sakura coiled back as all eyes turned onto her. She did not like the looks that they were giving her. Especially on the names that this Shikamaru had just said. She knew them from a distance. 'Oh no! It's Uchiha Sasuke! And isn't that Hinata's cousin, Hyuuga Neji?! Not good!' She thought moving back more steps. And what was worst, everyone was now glaring at her. Anyone who had been hit by food or was friends with Shikamaru or fans of the two nobles.

"Hey! Who do you think you are spoiling Neji and Sasuke's clothes like that?!" One young man exclaimed as he glared at Sakura.  
The blonde with whiskers nodded, glaring heatedly at her. "And ruining my ramen!"  
"Shut up, Naruto!" Another young man exclaimed. "No one cares about you!"  
And the blonde glared at him. But no one replied as they started to move towards Sakura, who swallowed hard and moved back. "Uh, I'm….I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do that. Honest." She tried to reassure them.

Another young Shinobi snickered as he if he found what she had said was funny. "Heh, Shika was right. You really are a wimp." He remarked, earning a glare from Sakura.

Uchiha Sasuke just looked her over, still wiping noodles from his clothing. He squinted his eyes as he looked at her face then down before looking up again. He eyed her hair with discontent. "A boy, with pink hair." He snorted as he tilted his head to the side. "Now I've seen everything." He shook his head as he folded his arms, glaring. "Go home, pink boy. You don't belong here. Go home to your mother where you belong." He said now turning away. The other, Hyuuga Neji was frowning deeply as he looked Sakura over. He seemed to notice something but then shook his head as if deciding against from saying anything.

However, Sakura immediately frowned as she remembered her father's face flashing in her mind at Sasuke's words. She knew that she couldn't go home. If she did, her father would come and then he would die. And she was not going to let that happen.

"No."

Everyone nearly froze as soon as the word were out of her mouth. The black haired young man, Sasuke stopped from walking away and slowly turned back, giving her a serious look. "What did you just say to me?" He asked grimly. Sakura shifted her weight and lifted her chin with a very determined look on her face. "I said no. I came here to fight a war and gain a high honor. And I am not about to let some pretty boy tell me what to do. Nor push me around." She said firmly.

There was a very long silence between the glaring two, before the black haired boy smirked and shook his head. "You're going to be very sorry that you didn't leave, pinky. Very sorry." He said before waving a hand as he spun on his heel. "He's all yours, guys." He told everyone glaring at Sakura as he went over and stood next to Hyuuga Neji and another silent black haired young man.

The men all around Sakura just began cracking their knuckles as they started towards Sakura, sneering. One, being the blonde, Naruto. "You're so going to pay for ruining my ramen, pink boy." He growled, punching his fists together.

Sakura just shook her head as she backed away, her fists tightly clenched. She wouldn't have a problem fighting at least one of the young men. She had taken lessons from Suka, about ninjutsu since she had been 8 years old. But fighting all of them at once; that was going to be a problem. "I did you a favor, noodle breath. Ramen isn't good for your brain." She then smirked as she eyed the angry blonde. "Not that you have one. You're so dumb that you'd probably be cast out of the army before you know it." She wasn't aware that the insult was probably not a good idea.

"THAT'S IT!" the blonde roared, as he started to lunge. "YOU ARE SO DEAD!" he was quickly followed by the other men.

Sakura quickly began moving to avoid flying fists of fury at her. She ran over and behind a crate of food to distance herself but they were all over her. She decided to try and fight it out. She began ducking under fists and threw her own. This was not a good idea, she realized but she would prove to these men that she could be just like them.  
"…..Orochimaru and his men have already sent word that they will wait a full year for us to prepare an army to fight, so that will give us time." Someone spoke from within a tent not too far away from the big fighting crowds. "The so called Secret Sound Nin, Orochimaru's band, will probably begin their attacks in the East though, demolishing any village or farms in that area. But we will go there and stop them at all costs."

The tent of the Shinobi was full of elites, men above that age of 20. There were at least ten Jounin and a few Chuunin standing around a table, where Namikaze Minato was standing, looking at a map of the Fire Country. He was marking territories where he believed Orochimaru might attack. He was looking rather grave as he briefed his men, but they didn't look any happier.  
"And what about the new recruits in the camp, Minato-sama?" A Jounin standing off to the side asked. "Who will train them?" This man was quite tall and had short black hair. He looked rather rugged and was smoking a cigarette, which seemed to disgust a few of his comrades.  
Minato's lips curved up a little as he looked at the Jounin who had spoke. But then he shrugged. "Well, there are quite a few choices, Asuma." He told the smoking Jounin. "I've decided that most of you will train the new recruits. But the one I will leave in charge of everything," he paused, his eyes drifting to a Jounin standing in a far corner, away from everyone else. "I've decided that it will be Kakashi."

The spoken Shinobi tilted his head as a few eyes turned in his direction but he was looking at the golden haired Shinobi. He was quite tall, yet he was shorter than he actually looked, due to his silver white hair standing up on end, slumping over just a little. He was a young man, at least in his mid twenties, 27 at least. He was wearing the usual Shinobi outfit, black pants and jacket with the leaf green vest. Around his waist he was wearing a travel pack. A kunai holster was on his right leg as well as a mini bag of shruikens and throwing stars. He was fairly handsome, though his bottom of his face was well hidden from view by a skintight mask. His forehead protector was pulled down over his left eye though, while his dark brown one was focused on Minato.

"Kakashi?!" Another Shinobi exclaimed, clearly not liking the idea. He was slightly shorter than the silver haired one, though his hair was black and in a bowl cut style, hanging over dark eyes and caterpillar eyebrows. He was wearing all green though. "Why him?!"

Minato, as well as everyone else looked at that one, before shaking his head with a faint smile. "Kakashi is the best choice, Gai. He has more experience than any of you and knows more techniques to teach the new recruits. He's a master of the jutsus." He said sounding a little fond of the silver haired Shinobi.  
The Shinobi, Maito Gai just snorted as he folded his arms across his strong chest. "Pfft. He's just a teacher's pet." He grumbled.  
Other Shinobi rolled their eyes, Kakashi being one, though he was chuckling darkly to himself and shaking his head. "Get jealous much, Gai?" He remarked, dryly. Gai glared at him while shaking a fist in his direction of his "Eternal Rival".

But Minato sighed, shaking his head as he held up a hand. He was clearly not happy with the outcome. "Enough, you two. We don't have time to argue among each other. My decision is final, Gai. Kakashi will be the commander of the training camp. It's not just my decision anyway. The Hokage wishes it as well. Kakashi is the strictest Shinobi we have. He will make sure that the boys will be ready within the year to fight Orochimaru. You, on the other hand, would go easy on them. Do not deny it either." He told him when the Shinobi opened his mouth to argue. "We need to be hard on the boys. They will have to be ready to fight for their lives and this country. They will be going up against Orochimaru, an S ranked Shinobi and once was the student of our Hokage. You all know his history. You know how dangerous he is. There's a very good chance that half of these boys won't go home alive." He said in a miserable voice. "Maybe more than half. If Kakashi wasn't the one to train them, I'm sure that all of them would die. That's why he's going to be the one in charge. I have faith in all of you. You all are the strongest and most powerful Shinobi we have. But these boys need the strictest if they want to survive. Respect my choice, Gai. You know it's true."

No one spoke as they listened to what Minato said, and they all silently agreed. It was true that some of them might take it easy on the boys. They didn't like being hard on their students, making it almost impossible to complete tasks. But they knew that if the boys were truly going to go up against Orochimaru, they would need a very strict teacher. And the strictest was Hatake Kakashi.

"My son is one of the new recruits." Gai muttered under his breath, but he knew that the others heard him anyway. "All right. I guess Kakashi can train him." He then pointed an accusing finger at the Shinobi. "You better be nice to him though, Kakashi!"

Again, everyone rolled their eyes, including Kakashi, who shifted his weight to standing up straighter. Minato just sighed shaking his head as he stood up. "I know you're son, Rock Lee is one of the new recruits, Gai. I've seen him in the camp. But you have to remember, my son is also one of the new recruits." He spoke rather softly, before his eyes snapped open wide, as if he had sensed something.

Suddenly there came a loud yelp as someone came crashing through the entrance of the tent, stumbling and falling over himself and crashing down onto the table that the Shinobi were standing around. Every Shinobi jumped to their feet or placed their hands on their Kunai before frowning when the saw who it was.

"Speak of the devil. Here he is now." A Shinobi named Genma said while smirking.

The blonde haired 18-year-old was swearing up a storm as he tried to get to his feet. He looked very much like his father, though he had the whisker markings on his face. He was saying the most vulgar words as he climbed to his feet, saying how he was going to kill someone for hitting him. "That kid is so dead!" He snarled, not seeming to realize where he was.

Minato just frowned as he watched his son start towards the tent entrance. But he shook his head as he followed after and grabbed the young man's arm, stopping him. "Naruto! What is the meaning of this?!" He demanded. He wasn't happy that his son had just came crashing into the tent during a very important briefing meeting. In a way, the boy had just embarrassed him.  
Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto looked up at the one who had grabbed him before he winced and grinned sheepishly. "Oh….hi, dad. Sorry I crashed into your tent."

Minato still glared accusingly at his son, shaking his head. "But what in the world are you doing, Naruto? What is the meaning…..?!"

That was then every single Shinobi heard the shouting from outside the tent. They could hear a fight going on and by the sounds of it, it wasn't just a friendly brawl that usually happened between boys. So without a word, they all began to file out. Minato, Naruto and Kakashi were the last ones to leave though.

Once outside, everyone froze to see so many new recruits all over the place, fighting like cats and dogs. Some were throwing jutsu at each other and some were just duking it out on each other. The fight was pretty big and mostly trained on one boy, who looked rather roughed up as everyone tried to attack him.

It was a great surprise to everyone, though, to see a boy with pink hair.

But apparently the golden haired Shinobi had seen one before. His eyes lit up surprise when he saw the 'boy', though he was well aware that it was actually a girl in disguise. He remembered her, though she did look rather different. He couldn't believe she had actually cut her long, pink hair into making herself look like a boy and donned men's clothing. Minato was well aware of Haruno Sakura's intentions and why she was there. He had known that she was going to do something to protect her father. He had actually given her the idea. But this was not what he expected. This was not what he had in mind. He had expected her to hire a man to pose as her brother to join the Ninja training camp. But she hadn't. Instead, she was doing it herself.

"What the?!" Gai remarked as he looked at the pink haired girl. "Now that's something you don't see everyday. A pink haired boy."

A Shinobi, Ibiki beside him frowned as he watched the 'boy' duck under a flying kick before lashing out 'his' foot and kicked the attacker in the back. "Are you sure that's a boy? He seems really beautiful to be one. Too girlish like and….."

"No." Minato surprised himself as he spoke. He wasn't even sure why he was speaking in the behalf of Sakura. He figured it was the fact that she would be killed if found out. "That's a boy. I know him. I've had the opportunity to meet him when I went to see his family. He is Haruno Daisuka's son. I don't remember his name though."

Everyone looked surprised to hear that. They all knew Haruno Daisuka's name. He had been a well-known Shinobi at one time. But they didn't know too much about his family. Kakashi, however, narrowed his one eye in the pink haired 'boy's' direction. "Haruno Daisuka's son?" He asked in skepticism. "I didn't know he had a son. I was aware that he had a…."

Minato pulled a face while everyone was looking away but he quickly shook his head as he stepped closer to his once student. "He has twins, Kakashi." He lied casually. "A boy and a girl. They both have pink hair and are identical." He turned his eyes back to Sakura, just in time to see her throw a man off of her before ducking under a fist again. He couldn't help but chuckle to see how well she was doing. She looked like she was actually used to this sort of thing, even though he knew that she hadn't been. "Hmm. I think I might like this boy. He's kind of feisty. I'd hate to see what his sister is like." He smirked towards Kakashi. Kakashi, however, looked highly annoyed as he looked away. He didn't want to get into this argument. The other Shinobi caught onto something. They knew there was a hidden meaning underneath that message. It just made them even more curious.

"Oooh! And does our Kakashi know that boy's twin sister?" Gai asked grinning mischievously.

Kakashi shot him a dark look before starting towards the fighting group of new recruits. He was not going to get into that subject with Gai. No way, no how. But as he was passing by the Shinobi, he stopped as Gai grabbed his arm and held on. "Come on, Kashi. Spill it. What kind of scandal are you pulling now? We all know you." The black haired Jounin said grinning. There was a short pause before Kakashi yanked his arm free from Gai's grip and shook his head as he kept his eye away from him. "I don't know what you're talking about. If its about my books, get a life, Gai. It's my business, not yours." He remarked dryly before going over towards the fight.

"Ouch." Gai said wincing before looking at Minato who shook his head. He caught him muttering the name Tsunade under his breath. "Oh, let me guess. Tsunade showed up at his place giving him the ol' "You-need-to-settle-down" routine again, didn't she?" He asked, making a face. Minato nodded as he watched his former student but then followed after him.

Sakura gasped for air after getting it knocked from her lungs as one man had elbowed her. She quickly tried to move away only to get tripped by another young man. 'Oh boy!' She thought fearfully as several fists came flying at her head. "Not good!" She yelped covering her head to protect herself.

"Gentlemen!" Someone barked.

Immediately the fists stopped from hitting Sakura and was held before all of their owners spun away from the pink haired girl and looked to see who was yelling at them. Sakura uncovered her head a little to see who her savior was and froze when she saw the golden haired Shinobi that had went to her house. And he was looking at her with a pleasant smile.  
Now as for who had just saved her from getting a beating of a lifetime, he was quite taller than her if she was standing up. He had silver white hair that nearly stood up on end and one eye was covered with his forehead protector. There was no doubt that this was an Elite Shinobi, by the vest he was wearing. But right now, he wasn't looking too friendly.

"Oh man. It's him! The Copy Nin!" One of the nearest men gasped under his breath before he and all of the other men quickly backed away from Sakura and stood up tall.

Sakura, on the other hand, clumsily got to her feet and brushed herself off before she realized that the Shinobi was standing over her. She looked up at him, seeing the dry look he was giving her and she suddenly realized that she was suppose to be doing what the other young men were doing. She gave them a quick glance before straightening herself, trying to be as stiff as they were.

The Elite Shinobi was not impressed by the look on his face. "What do you think you are doing picking a fight in my camp?" The silver haired Shinobi asked dryly.

Sakura frowned a little and was a little stumped but it was clear that he was angry with her. About the mess that was just made in trying to defend herself. "Uh….sorry." She paused when she heard one of them snort. She then remembered what the young man, Shikamaru had said about her being a wimp so she decided to take on the tough boy sort. So, she tried grinning at the Shinobi. "I mean, sorry you had to see that. But you know how we men like to be. You know, so tough and all. Teaching wimps like them a lesson." She even added a punch to shoulder for an affect.

That seemed to be a very BIG mistake.

Sakura saw the dry look that the Shinobi was giving her turned into a full out glare and she saw a few of the other young men wince while others snickered. She cringed a little knowing that she had done wrong.

"Let me see your papers." The Shinobi said coolly.

Immediately, Sakura dug into her pockets for the summoning scroll before finding it. She quickly held it out to the Shinobi, who practically snatched it from her and looked over it. His eye followed each line before looking back at her, his eyebrow raising and he tilted his head. "So, you're from the Haruno clan, huh? The son of Haruno Daisuka?" He asked still serious as ever.

However, the name made quite a few other young men gasp and began murmuring. It still made Sakura frown but at least the men seemed to think she was a boy. "Yes. I am." She told him.

"Yes, what?" The Elite asked roughly.

Sakura was taken back by surprise by how he suddenly was angry at her. She was wondering what she had done wrong. She even tried to look at the other young men to see if they would help her out, which they weren't going to, she looked to Minato instead, hoping he would give her a hint. He seemed to, because he smiled and shook his head before mouthing, 'Yes, sir.'

"Yes, sir!" Sakura quickly said, her eyes snapping back to the Shinobi.

The Elite Shinobi still didn't look satisfied. He just frowned, at least she knew he frowned. She couldn't see the frown because his mouth was hidden by his mask. But she could tell because of the look on his face. But then he held up the scroll. "Your papers are missing one thing. Your name. What is it?"

Sakura's heart nearly stopped as her eyes snapped wide open. She could not believe of how stupid she truly was. She had forgotten to pick out a boy's name. She knew she couldn't be called Sakura. That was a girl's name. But she knew that she better answer quickly because the Shinobi wasn't looking any happier.

"Well?" He asked impatiently.

Sakura quickly searched her mind quickly for a name. But all she was getting was blank. Her mind was racing but she wasn't finding anything. "Uh….."

Now the Shinobi looked even more annoyed. He folded his arms and shifted his weight, while looking very annoyed. "Well?! Do you have a name or don't you?!" He asked roughly. Sakura nodded timidly as she still tried to think of a name. "O-of course I do. I do have a name." She said flushing bright red. "An-and it's a boy's name." She could have slammed herself to the ground for that. She knew how stupid she was sounding. Even some of the men were sniggering. And they weren't the only ones. Some of the Shinobi cracked smiles and were shaking their heads. "It's….it's ah…."

"What is your name?!" Again the Shinobi asked, sounding more angrier.

And then a word popped into her mind. She didn't know where it came from but she had. It was the only name that came to her so she quickly said, "Zaku!" Everything seemed to stop at once. The men stopped laughing at her and now the Shinobi rose his eyebrow, now looking at least a little satisfied that he finally got a name. "Zaku?"

Sakura nodded quickly as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes, si-sir. My name is Haruno Zaku." She tried to sound brave, but unfortunately, her voice cracked. She was terrified out of her wits. The look that the Shinobi had been giving her a minute ago had almost been murderous.

After a long moment, the Shinobi nodded before turning away from her and looked around the camp at everyone else. The men all straightened again, lifting their heads higher than before. "Listen up!" The Shinobi called out loudly, now starting to pace in front of them. "I am Hatake Kakashi and I will be training you for the last year of your lives!" The name took Sakura by surprise. She remembered that name, Hatake. She wondered exactly who this was and what his part in the clan was. But she chose to ponder over it later.  
"My word is law here, boys. If you think this is going to be like a summer camp, guess again." Kakashi said dryly, his arms still folded over his chest. "We're not here to teach you how to sing camp fire songs or how to row a boat. We're here to train you to be soldiers! This will be the roughest training you will ever go through in your lives. You will do what you are told!" He told them in a loud voice. "When I say jump, you leap for the moon. When I tell you to crawl, you get on your damned bellies and crawl like worms." His voice was rather serious and rough right about now. "If you can't cut it, you go home with dishonor for your family! Now then," He glanced over at Sakura, who cringed a little. "Thanks to your new friend, Zaku, you all made a mess out of this camp. And now you are going to clean it up. No one can rest, eat, sleep or sit down without my saying so. If you do, you will be punished. Now start picking up every noodle and fix what you have broken!" He ordered.

Sakura winced again as she saw the look Kakashi gave her a cold look before turning away. But that look was no where near the looks she was getting from the other young men. Every single young man she had gotten into a fight with was now glaring at her in a most dangerous way. They looked like they were getting ready to kill her. So many murderous looks, so many daggers in those hundreds of eyes. She knew that there was no way she was going to make friends out of these guys.

"Haruno Zaku."

Sakura tensed when she heard his voice again but slowly turned to look right up at Minato, who was still smiling at her. He had one eyebrow raised as he looked her over. And by the look on his face, he knew who she really was. "Uh….y-yes?"

Minato just smiled before he turned away, motioning for her to follow him. "I would like a word with you, Miss…." He paused to look at her slyly. "Mister Haruno." He finished. Sakura felt her face drain of color, knowing that he was going to say something about her being there. But it wasn't just that look that had her nervous. It was the now returned look that Kakashi was giving her. He had heard what his old teacher had said and turned back to protest.

"Master Minato-san," He interrupted. "The boy needs to help clean up the mess that he made." He said seriously.

But Minato just waved Kakashi away with his hand, shaking his head. "Relax, Kakashi. It won't take long. I'll be quick. Then he can join his comrades to cleaning up." He promised, then motioned for Sakura to join him. Sakura timidly followed, glancing at Kakashi who rose an eyebrow at her but did not say anything after that. They both walked well away from the others, from prying ears so that no one could hear what they were going to talk about.

But after a long moment, Minato spun on his heel and faced Sakura, who immediately halted from running into him. "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid." He said dryly. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

Sakura swallowed hard as she looked down at the ground. So she had been right. Namikaze Minato did recognize her and did know what she really was. She knew she was in for it and big time. "I'm sorry. But I couldn't let my father die." She said shaking her head. "He's too old and the limp in his leg would have slowed him down. He would have been killed."

Minato frowned seriously, giving her a look of warning but then he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Ah, what am I going to do with you, Miss Haruno? I agree that Suka was not fit to rejoin the Shinobi lines but you are a woman. Women do not belong in the war. It's way too dangerous. There's reason why we don't let them join Shinobi ranks." He gave her a very serious look. "The law would have me execute you immediately. This is breaking way too many laws at once." He saw her flinch but still did not meet his eye. "And I should just send you home to avoid that. But I won't."

Sakura's head snapped up and she looked at him in shock. She couldn't believe that he just said that. She knew that he was breaking the law if he didn't punish her or sent her home.

Minato just shook his head, still looking seriously at her. "I'll let you decide, young Zaku. You can either quit or you can just get kicked out. I must warn you now. My former student, Kakashi is not easy to get along with. He's very strict and does not allow anyone to play around. He is going to be very hard on everyone, even you if you continue this charade." He shook his head again. "He has my orders to make sure that everyone in this training camp will be ready to fight for their lives from the greatest enemy of the Fire Country. And that is to work these boys into men. This is going to be back breaking for everyone. If you stay, you will have blisters on your soft, delicate hands and it will tire you out until you drop. Eventually," He paused to tilted his head to the side. "You will break and you will give up."

The words echoed inside of Sakura's mind like the sound on the walls of a cavern. They scared her. It made her feel like she was going to cry. To feel that bad, it hurt. Maybe she should give up while she had the chance. At least she would still live and no one would ever know what she tried to do. Only herself, her mother and her father…..

"Father." She whispered with a gasp.

She remembered how she had seen him fall down, struggling to get up. She remembered the look of pain on his face and how she never wanted to see him like that again. She refused to She could not let him fall down again.

So with all the determination she could muster, Sakura looked up at Minato, with such sternness that it nearly surprised him. "I will never quit and I will never fail." She said boldly. "If I fall, I will get back up. If I get blisters on my soft, delicate hands, I will just put ointment on them until my hands hardened with my labors. I may have been a woman yesterday, sir, but I am a man today. I will not let my father fight this war when I can do it for him. This is my fight for honor. I couldn't get my honor as a bride, so I will do it as a soldier." She said with pride.

There was a long silence between the two before Minato's face softened and he looked at her with a smile. "You really are a fiesty one, Haruno. But I will guarentee you, Kakashi will find a way of breaking you.."

Sakura forced a smile as she looked into his deep blue eyes. "I don't break easy."

That really made Minato smile as he lift his chin higher. He had to admit it, she was full of courage. He had expected her to be afraid but she wasn't showing any fear. "We shall see." He said softly before nodding. "I do hope you're right. Because I like your spirit. That's why I'm letting you stay. I hope to see you in six months when I come for a check on the training status. Do not let me down, Haruno."

Sakura only smiled at him, still a little too serious. "I won't. I swear it."

Minato just nodded as he turned away and started back towards the Elite Shinobi. He paused to wait for Sakura, who quickly joined his side. "I'm going to give you one more warning, Zaku. Kakashi is not going to take it easy on you. He will not take you under his wing or anything. If you fall, he won't catch you or help you back up. He's not like that. He expects you to get up on your own." He told her.

"…..He….he doesn't know, does he?" Sakura asked looking up at him.

Minato shook his head as he already knew what she was talking about. "No. He doesn't know that you're a girl. Not yet anyway. You're going to have to be very careful around him. He will figure it out if you're not. He's one of the most intelligent Shinobi I've ever taught. So whatever girly habits you have, drop them immediately. You have to convince him that you are a boy. You must have repulsive habits." He made a face at the thought. "Spit in public, pass gas without a thank you, if you must. Burp out loud. But keep it a limit. It annoys Kakashi and you don't want to do that. Pretty much, just do whatever he says but don't be a mindless drone. He likes it when people think for theirselves but obeys the rules." he warned her.  
"I'll try to remember that." Sakura murmured before glancing at him.  
Minato was still giving her a serious look as he looked down at her. "Be careful, Zaku. I mean it. If you act like a girl once around Kakashi, he will catch on. He's one of the most intelligent students I've ever taught. He will figure it out." He told her sternly.  
Sakura only nodded as they started to approach the others, but hesitated when she saw some murderous looks thrown in her direction. She knew that she was in trouble with them. And she had a feeling that they weren't too happy that she was actually 'befriending' Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato.  
"Hmm. You better start helping them clean, Zaku, or you're going to have a lot of enemies." The golden haired Shinobi told her, also noticing the looks.  
Sakura made a weak face as she nodded. "I think I've already done that. They don't like me very much. I don't think anyone's going to go easy on me." She murmured.  
Minato's eyes flickered over to her, pausing for a long moment before he sighed. He just patted her on the back, giving her a light push. "You'll be fine." He told her. Then he watched her start cleaning up, though away from the young men. "I'll make sure of it." He muttered to himself before he looked around for his son, spotting him helping fix a table. With a deep breath, he went over to those young men. "Naruto."  
The blonde young man, Naruto, turned around before grinning when he saw his father. He gave the other men a quick wave of the hand to let them know he would be right back before hurrying over. "Hey, dad!" he said excitedly. "Leaving already?"  
"Not just yet." Minato told him silently before moving closer. "I need you to do me a favor, Naruto, while I'm gone and you are here."  
Naruto grinned as he looked wide eyed up at his father and even started bouncing on his heels. He would do anything to impress the Great Minato. No matter what it was. "What?!" He asked excitedly.  
"I need you to watch Haruno Zaku's back, keeping the others from picking on him or hurting him."  
That came as a slap in the face for Naruto. His excited look immediately vanished and he looked at Minato as if he was crazy. "What?!" He exclaimed. But...why?! He's a pink haired jerk who ruined my ramen and kind of a loser and..." He stopped when Minato gave him a dry glare. He knew he was in trouble now. He only got that look when he did something really stupid or said a nasty curse word.  
"Naruto!" Minato scolded. "I'm surprised at you. You should not discriminate Haruno Zaku because of the color of his hair and a stupid accident. Ramen is ramen. I know you love it, but Zaku is a person." He shook his head as he folded his arms and shifted his weight. "Do you really not like Zaku because of his hair?"  
Naruto frowned but nodded. "Well, yeah. No one likes him because of his hair. Pink hair is for girly boys."  
Minato sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. He couldn't believe that Naruto didn't like 'Zaku' just because he had pink hair. "Naruto," he sighed. "You disappoint me. To judge one so wrongly, that is not fair. If you truly believe that Zaku is weak or stupid just because of his hair, you shame me." He told him. To even hear that, Naruto's eyes widened with surprise before he lowered his head with a frown. He had never really shamed Minato before. Why? Just because he didn't like a pink haired brat? Now that he actually thought about it, it really wasn't fair. So he figured that he should give Zaku a chance.  
"Oh, fine. I'll be nice to Haruno. But it doesn't mean I'll like him and be his friend." He grumbled.  
Minato smiled and shook his head before he reached over and ruffled his son's already messy blond hair. "Good, Naruto. Thank you for doing this. Now, work very hard while here at camp. I know you will make me proud." He told him. Naruto just grumbled before going back to work.

Minato found Kakashi next watching over the new recruits, making sure that they were doing everything they were suppose to do. And doing it right. A few he scolded and made them work even faster. But as his old sensai approached, the silver-white haired Shinobi turned and looked at him.

"Kakashi," Minato began. "I'm leaving now with my men. But I wish you good luck with the boys."

Kakashi only nodded as he bowed to Minato at the waist then straightened as his revealed eye flickered over to the pink haired boy. "What about Haruno Zaku, Master Minato-sama? What should I do with him? Send him home?" He asked in a low voice. Minato just frowned as he glanced over at 'Zaku' but then shook his head. "Are you not willing to give him a chance, Kashi? You just want to send him home without any chance at all?"

"He does not belong here, Master. He's not strong enough." Kakashi said dryly but then looked squarely at him when Minato placed his hand onto his shoulder.  
The golden haired Shinobi shook his head at his student. "I want you to give him a chance, Kakashi. There's potentional in that boy. I can see it. He's stronger than he looks. Give him a chance to prove himself. He might just be one of those soldiers you're looking for to end this war. Keep an eye on him." He then smiled slyly. "You might turn out to like him."

Kakashi rolled his revealed eye and shifted his weight. "I highly doubt that, Master. He looks like an idiot to me." He muttered. Minato rose an eyebrow with a deep chuckle rumbling out from his chest. "Oh, Kakashi. This isn't about what Tsunade said when she visited you yesterday, is it?" He saw how tense Kakashi suddenly became and he grinned. "Relax, my young friend. It's up to you, not her that if you go up with the match up. She only wants to make sure your clan continues to flourish. And just think of it this way, Zaku may just as well become your..."

"I'm not going to get into that right now." Kakashi said impatiently. "I have other things to worry about besides worrying about getting married to some girl that I don't even know. And I certainly am not going to give the Haruno boy a special treatment just because of that girl. This whole arranged marriage thing is stupid in my opinion." He then pointed at a young man close by. "You!" He called. The young man he was suddenly yelling at was a large young fellow with circular markins around his cheeks. He looked up at Kakashi with wide eyes, looking like he had just been caught doing something very bad. "Uh, yes, sir?"

"What is your name?" Kakashi asked folding his arms.

The large young man swallowed hard, as if he was swallowing something, coughing a little. "Um, Akimichi Choji, sir." He answered.

Kakashi gave him a very dry look before shaking his head. "Well, Akimichi Choji, you just earned a lap around the camp for eating ramen off the ground, which is very nasty, by the way." He then threw his thumb over his shoulder. "Now start running."

"What?! I was not eating...!" Choji exclaimed but stopped at the look on Kakashi's face.  
The silver-white haired Shinobi narrowed his dark eye onto him, giving him a look as if daring to argue with him. "Do you really want to argue with me, Choji? Or do you want to add a hundred laps to your sentence?"  
With a grumble, Choji began running, while other young men gave him a sympathedic look and others sniggered.

Minato sighed, shaking his head before he clapped Kakashi on the back. "Don't overdo it, Kakashi. They're still young. You really shouldn't be that hard on them." He told him. Kakashi just shook his head as he once again folded his arms. "They may be young, Master. But they're old enough to know how to handle the pressure. And if they don't, it won't save their lives." He then turned to face Minato, again bowing to him. "Good luck master. And be careful."  
"Thank you, Kakashi. And I wish you luck with the boys. Turn them into men, will you?" Minato told him, bowing back before he turned and was hurrying away from the camp with a large group of ANBU.


	5. Chapter 5

It was by nightfall when the camp was finally cleaned, at least to Kakashi's standards. The new recruits had spent hours on end cleaning it up and fixing everything that got broken. As of now, they were all beyond exhausted, sitting on the ground or leaning against poles while rubbing their eyes. Some of them looked like they were actually sleep walking. Standing all around them was the Elites, some looking at the young men with pity while some just shook their heads. Kakashi was in the front,looking all of the young men over, dryly. His unrevealed eye was on the pink haired 'boy', Zaku, who was sitting 'his' self. 

Sakura was one of the few rubbing her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep in them. She had never been so exhausted in her life. Of course, she had never had to work this hard either. But she knew that she better get used to it. The training was only beginning and she knew that it was going to get harder from there on. She suddenly looked up when someone sank down onto the ground next to her, his arms wrapping around his knees as he was waiting for further instructions. It was a surprise to see that the blonde, Naruto was actually sitting by her while the other young men were well away from her. Naruto didn't say a word as he just sat there, looking towards the Elites. He didn't even spare a glance at Sakura. Sakura tilted her head in curiousity before noticing some of the looks that the other young men were giving them. Though her eyes paused on Hyuuga Neji, who was watching her. A few of the men were too, but there was a strange look on Neji's face. He was looking at her with a little curiousity. Almost questionably. But that wasn't just it. He also seemed to be looking her over and that made her tense. She wondered why in the world he was doing that. But then both of them looked away from one another when Kakashi cleared his throat for everyone's attention. 

"Congradualations." The silver-white haired Shinobi said, his arms folding over his chest. "You've managed to clean the entire camp before it got too late. I'm half impressed. I thought you wouldn't do it before midnight." He then shook his head as he dropped his arms. "Your reward, bed time. Get some sleep, gentlemen. Because the real training is going to start early. You're all to be up right before dawn. Anyone that's late, answers to me." He then waved a hand towards them, as if waving them away before turning to the other Elites and having a silent word with them.

Mumbling, everyone climbed to their feet and started to move towards their tents. Sakura, however, stood still, looking around wide eyes. There was a problem with her getting to sleep. Where was she suppose to sleep?! She didn't even have a tent. Sakura sighed and shook her head as she looked around. "Great." She mumbled before looking at the nearest young man, passing by her. It was one of the young men she believed to be called Kiba. "Uh, excuse me." She said to him, and he rose an eyebrow at her. "Do you have any idea where my tent would be located?" The young man snorted as he shifted his weight. He was giving her a look as if she was a retard. "Your tent? You were suppose to bring one for your own. Not to mention, set it up." He then shrugged. "Of course, I don't see the point. It's a nice night and suppose to be warm. I'm going to sleep out doors." He then wandered off, laughing at Sakura. 

"Cha! Don't tell us that you forgot to pack a tent." The inner Sakura grumbled inside her head.

Sakura was grumbling herself as her shoulders slouched and her head lowered. "This is so not my day." She muttered as she just stood there. "Not only I can't make any friends around here, I don't have a tent." She shook her head as she folded one arm over her chest and planted her head in the other hand. She was going to need to figure something out. She figured she could spend the night outside like that guy, Kiba. But exactly how was she going to change without anyone looking?

Just then, a blanket was thrown over her head and a tent bag was tossed down at her feet.

"Ah!" Sakura yelped before scampering to pull the blanket off of her head. She turned to see who had given her what she needed. And to her surprise, it was the silver-white haired Jounin, Kakashi. 

Kakashi was eyeing her dully and really didn't look surprised to see that she hadn't brought a tent. He was just standing there, his arms folded and his head tilted to the side. "Set up your tent and go to bed. This is the only time I'm going to be nice, got that?" He told her. 

Sakura just blinked at him surprise before she felt a wave of relief roll over her. She quickly bowed to him in gratitude. "Uh, thank you. Um, sir." She added really quickly as she straightened up.

But Kakashi wasn't moving either. He was actually just standing there, looking like he was waiting for something. And then she realized that he was waiting for her to start setting up her tent. Sakura made a face as she looked down at her tent bag before starting to pull everything out. She noticed immediately that she had no stakes to use. And there was another problem. She had never pitched a tent before. "Um..." 

"Hmph." Kakashi hummed impatiently. "Let me guess. You don't know how to pitch a tent, do you?" He asked skeptically. He still didn't move to help her. He just turned away, shaking his head. "You better learn real fast, Haruno, or it's going to be a long night for you." And he walked away.

Sakura sighed pitifully as she watched him before getting to work. She wasn't exactly too sure how everything was to go but she was going to try. She laid the tent out and attempted to set it up. It took many tries before she finally got it up. However, it was slumping to the side, looking more like a rag standing up on a stick. "Oh." She sighed as she looked around. She was having a feeling that some of the guys were watching her and laughing. She didn't blame them. She was pretty sure that she looked pathedic. But since she was so tired, she was going to not worried about it right now. It would have to do until the morning when she could try again. So she began climbing into the tent, ready to get some sleep. 

"Oh please. Aren't you going to set up your tent the right way?"

Sakura jumped in her so called tent and spun around to see Naruto standing there, looking at the tent with a sweatdrop rolling down the side of his face. His state really made Sakura blush. He was wearing only boxer shorts with hearts on them and a black tank top. He was barefoot, not even wearing his sandals.

Sakura felt her face flush but luckily it was pretty dark so that he couldnt' see it. "Um, I did set up my tent." She said looking at the tent above her.

Naruto rolled his eyes before moving forward. He began grabbing at the tent and straightening it. "Got any kunai on you or are you just using butter knives from the kitchen?" He asked saracastically. Sakura gave him a look of annoyance but pulled out a few of her kunai, holding them out to him. Naruto took them and used them as stakes for the tent. In no time, the tent was actually looking like a tent and not a rag.

"Um, why are you helping me?" Sakura asked, tilting her head in a curious way. "I thought you hated me."

Naruto just glanced at her as he reached into the tent and fixed the tent post to make it straighter. "I don't hate anyone but Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like you, okay? But I'm helping you because you looked really stupid trying to set up your tent." He said impatiently.

Sakura frowned at him. She was actually surprised that he just told her that he hated Sasuke. Hadn't they been friends? "Why do you hate Sasuke? I thought you were friends because you were sitting by each other earlier." 

Again, Naruto rolled his eyes as he stepped back from the tent, looking it over then nodding in satisfaction. "Uchiha Sasuke is NOT my friend!" He even crossed his arms, making an X. "He's the most annoying guy I know. He thinks he's so cool just because he's one of the nobles and every girl in the country is drooling over him. Besides, I wasn't sitting next to him. I was sitting with Neji, who happens to be Sasuke's friend." He said sounding a little grumpy. 

Sakura decided not to ask anymore. So she just sat there, shrugging. "Thanks, Naruto." She said once he turned to start moving away. 

The blonde only waved a hand impatiently at her, but his mood seemed to lighten a little. As soon as he was gone, Sakura closed the tent flaps and climbed into the sleeping mat. At least one of the guys weren't being a jerk to her anymore. Soon, she was fast asleep, dreaming of home.

 

Back at the Haruno Residence, the Haruno clan were devastated when they found Sakura missing. And what was worst, they knew where she had gone. The very second Daisuka woke up before dawn, he knew something was wrong. His old battle wound in his leg was aching and he knew that was a sign of something going wrong. He immediately looked to see if the summoning scroll was still on his bedside table, and to his grief, it was gone. 

He had spent most of the day searching for Sakura, looking around on the house grounds, hoping she was still there. But finding his old war clothes gone, along with his weapons, he knew that she was gone and wasn't going to come back. At least for a while.

Suka, however, did not follow Sakura, no matter how much Rukia asked him to. He knew that if he went to the training camp and revealed his daughter's true identity, she would die. It was a crime to impersonate a soldier, nonetheless a man. It was treason to the Shinobi ways and to the Hokage.

So instead, he spent the entire day praying to the former Hokages and the heros of the Fire Country that Sakura wouldn't be found out, nor killed in the terrible war.

Now, Suka was sitting in his dojo, looking out into the night sky with grieving tears in his eyes. He was extremely worried about Sakura. He hoped that she would be okay. He blamed himself for running away from home. If only he hadn't been so tough on her, she probably wouldn't have run away.

After a long silence, Suka lowered his head and closed his eyes. He let out a long sigh, already knowing that he wasn't alone. He had sensed the new presense enter the room. "You're very good with your stealth, my young friend. But I know you are there."

There was a low chuckle from the shadows before Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato stepped out and silently walked over to his side. "You may be old, Master Suka-san, but you are still the Shinobi you once were." He said with amusement.

Suka did not look up at him but just stared outside. "Minato, have you come for a social call or to tell me that my daughter is dead?" He asked glumily. He tilted his head a little when the golden haired Shinobi knelt beside him and joined him to staring outside.

"Neither one." Minato said sitting up straight. "Your son, Zaku is alive and safe at the Ninja Training camp."

Suka blinked a few times before looking at him, surprised. He wasn't sure he had heard right. Had Minato actually said that his son, Zaku was alive and safe. "My...my son?" He asked in confusion.

Minato gave him a gentle smile before looking out at the stars. "Don't be too surprised, Master Suka." He told him. "You know why Sakura's doing it. She's doing it for your life and your honor. You know as well as I do that you wouldn't have been able to survive too long because of that wound you gotten years ago. It would have killed you."

"Sakura...so she is posing as..." Suka was saying before he frowned and looked directly at Minato. "And you knew that it was her when you saw her but didn't do anything. Why didn't you?"

The golden haired Shinobi just shook his head as he looked back at him, still smiling in his friendly way. "No. I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to let her stay. No one by myself knows that your son, Haruno Zaku is indeed your daughter, Haruno Sakura. And hopefully, they won't notice." He paused still smiling. "I must admit it though. She's a very brave young woman, Suka, to be doing this. She's very determined. If she wasn't, she would have came home a long time ago. But she is determined to fight out this war for you. She loves you enough to risk her life. And for that, I'm giving her a chance." He told the older Shinobi, who still looked rather surprised.

"But..." Suka looked away. "She's a woman playing as a man, in a war. She could be killed."

Minato just frowned as he looked away. "And she would be if she was revealed. Give her a chance, Suka, to do this. I know she can do it. I've seen the potentional in her." He said sounding very serious. 

Suka just frowned at him but there was still one thing bothering him. "Why though? Sakura is a woman. And women have no business in a war." He said thoughtfully.

Minato didn't look at him, nor spoke for a long moment. But then he tilted his head towards Suka, his cerulean blue eyes looking into Suka's black ones. "But she does have business in this war, Master Suka-san." He told him simply. "Sakura's business in this war is to fight for your life and her honor." He looked completely at the old Shinobi master. "Like it or not, we need any willing soldier in this war. We're fighting against Orochimaru and his men. And we need as many fiesty fighters as we can get. Male or female. Sakura is a very fiesty youth. And I know that she can do this." He looked away up at the full moon with a soft smile. "And she may even change someone else's future."

 

The sun rose slowly into the air once morning came and Sakura was still sleeping in her tent. She wasn't even aware of where she was at the moment. She was just sleeping on the blankets and beddings she had been giving, dreaming of being home and practicing jutsu with her father. She was feeling very comfortable while sleeping.

That is until the tent began to shake violently, making quite the racket. "Come on, Zaku! It's sun up! Get your butt up!"

Sakura jerked awake before looking around until she realized that she was still in her tent and the blonde, Naruto was looking at her. She almost yelped in surprise and pulled the covers over her. But then she remembered she had not changed out of her outfit yet and didn't have to worry too much. "What? What is it?"

"Come on, you dolt! We have to be up and ready for training. But we're already late! I slept in too." Naruto said quickly.

Sakura's eyes snapped open wide before she quickly began gathering her things, while attempting to pull on her sandals and climb out of her tent at the same time. Naruto just waited until she was out of the tent and all ready before shoving a cup of ramen into her hands. "Here! Have some breakfast! Now let's go!" He shouted before bolting away. Sakura quickly ran after him while looking at the ramen in her hands. She wasn't too fond of ramen but she was too hungry to complain at the moment. She hadn't eaten the night before because they had to clean up the camp. "Thanks, Naruto." She said smiling. "For waking me up. I'd probably have slept in if you hadn't come woke me." She told him. Naruto just shook his head but didn't look as annoyed as Sakura thought he might be as they rushed to where the others were. 

Finally the found out where everyone else was at. Some of the other young men were rough housing, trying to get their blood flowing while others were just talking to one another. However, when Sakura hurried up with Naruto, a few men looked over at her and looking annoyed already that she had showed up. But neither one, Sakura nor Naruto paid them any attention as they walked over to a more open area. 

"Oh. Look. It's the pink haired boy, Zaku. So you did decide to get up after all." Another young man remarked.

Sakura frowned at him but chose not to respond. She figured that would probably egg them on if they knew they were getting to her. So she just walked on with Naruto. That is until someone grabbed her shirt and yanked her back. She yelped in surprise before looking up at the annoyed looking Shikamaru. He was holding her by the front of her shirt with a fist raised. "I think I owe you some breakfast, troublesome Zaku. How about a knuckle sandwich?" He asked shaking his fist under her nose.

"Let me go." warned Sakura as she glared at him and tried to pull away. "Or should I show you what happens when you mess with me?"

Shikamaru just narrowed his eyes at her before he pulled his fist back, looking ready to swing. "This is so troublesome but I think I might just like taking you out, you pink haired weirdo." He said lazily before he started to swing. Before his fist could get even five inches away from Sakura's face, Naruto grabbed his arm and held tight to it. "Leave him, Shikamaru." He told him darkly. "He's only done to you what you deserved. Now let him go." He warned him. Shikamaru yanked his fist away and released Sakura while facing the blonde. The other young men all just sniggered as they surrounded the three. "What's your problem, blockhead? I thought you didn't like pinky here." One asked. 

"Or did you have a change of heart for the fair man?" Another laughed.

Naruto shot that one a dark look, his fists balling up tightly. "Shut up, Kiba! I don't like Zaku but you gotta realize that we're in this together! If I didn't know any better we signed up on the same team. Zaku might have girly pink hair but he's like us. Trying to fight." He told him.

Shikamaru just lazily put his hand onto his waist and shifted his weight. "Oh please. We don't need some pink haired troublesome freak on our side. We'd be the laughing stock in the entire Country." He said in a low voice. "He'd probably just make the enemies die while laughing at us."

Sakura glared at him for that remark but she did have a well thought comeback. "Well at least they'd die laughing at me rather than die smelling your foul-smelling breath. I'd almost feel bad for the enemy if you breathed on them." She staid and for once, a few young men laughed at her insult. She was surprised that they actually laughed but it did make her feel a little better.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, gave her an icy look. "Why, you ugly, little...!" He was growly with his fist raised again. 

Sakura quickly stepped back, a little hurt that he called her ugly but more angrly as well. She wasn't going to let this guy touch her and if he did, she'd pummel him right back. She was not afraid of him and she wasn't going to be. But to her surprise again, Naruto stepped forward in her defense, but so had another young man she remembered to be called Rock Lee.

"Enough!"

Everyone jumped when they heard that voice and Shikamaru immediately dropped his fist. They all turned to see the Shinobi Elites approaching them, lead by Hatake Kakashi. Some of the Elites were shaking their heads while the rest, along with the silver haired Commander, gave them dark looks as if daring them to start another fight. 

Kakashi walked straight up to Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru and Rock Lee before stopping with his fist on his waist. He gave them all a very dark look as he looked them over, his one eye mostly glaring at Sakura. "Are we having a problem here?" He asked warningly.

Both Sakura and Shikamaru glared at one another before they shook their heads. "No, sir." They both said.

"Good." Kakashi said with a nod before he dropped his hand. "Line up and hustle about it!" He barked. Quickly, all of the young men and the young woman shuffled to make a long line, though Sakura and Shikamaru were still glaring at one another. They placed theirselves in line though without a word and soon everyone was standing up tall in front of the Elites. Once everyone was lined up, Kakashi gave a nod as he lazily looked them all over. He didn't look impressed with them at all but didn't say anything as he began to pace in front of the young recruits. After another long moment, he stopped all together and faced them with his hands stuffed into his pockets. "Now then," Kakashi began. "As I said yesterday, I am Hatake Kakashi and I am in charge of your training. So if I were you, I would put an end to fighting one another," He shot both Sakura and Shikamaru dark looks, who didn't look away from him. "And fight to earn my respect. I'm not a very easy person to get along with but you better get used to it. Because if I'm not impressed with you, the Hokage is not imperssed with you." He then motioned to the Elites standing behind him. "As for all of them, they are Elite Shinobi and they will be helping training you. They will probably be more lenient than I will, but they're not going to go easy on you either. The training you will be going through will be very hard. And as I said before," he looked directly at Sakura when he said this. "If you can't cut the training, you go home. And if there are any more problems, you will deal with me." 

A young man close by to Sakura, the one called Kiba snorted as he rolled his eyes. He didn't even look like he believed the silver haired Shinobi at all. "Oooh boy. Looks like we have a tough guy on our hands." He muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, Kakashi had heard that. He slowly turned his eye onto the young man with red markings on his face and glared. "You." He spoke nodding to him. "What's your name?"

All eyes turned onto the frozen young man now but after a few seconds he shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal and moved forward, his arms crossing his chest. "The name's Kiba, sir. Inuzuka Kiba." He said dully. And to Sakura's surprise, something started wriggling within his shirt. Actually it surprised everone but Kakashi as a fluffy head popped out from within the shirt and barked. "Oh. And this is Akamaru." Kiba said as if it wasn't a big deal the dog was there either. Kakashi narrowed his eye at Kiba before he shook his head and rolled that eye. He looked like he wasn't surprised that it was there at all. "Whatever. We'll talk about the dog later." Then he motioned Kiba to move forward, who obeyed. "Congratulations, Inuzuka. You just volunteered for our first lesson." He told him as he turned his back onto the young man. Kiba, like everyone, looked very interested into finding out what the first lesson would be. They looked almost excited. 

Until Kakashi turned around as he was pulling out a kunai and it looked very much like he was about to throw it at Kiba. Kiba yelped in alarm, as did the puppy, stepping back with fear. Behind him, the recruits standing there gasped as they jumped away from him, not wanting to get hit by the kunai when it was flung at the young man and his dog. But instead of throwing it at Kiba, Kakashi threw it high into the air, where it hit a very high branch of a tree right above them. It stuck there, almost hilt deep. The very action, of course, surprised all of the recruits while the Elites folded their arms and rolled their eyes. One even muttered, "Here we go. This should be entertaining."

"Now, Inuzuka Kiba, retrieve the kunai and earn my respect." Kakashi spoke dryly as he folded his arms. It was clear that he was smirking under his mask by the look in his eye. He looked highly amused that he had scared the bold ninja recruit into thinking he was going to throw the kunai at him, only to make him look like an idiot for getting scared in the first place. Kiba, incidently, caught onto the little prank and glared at the Elite, dryly. But then with a shrug, he moved towards the base of the tree. "Fine, fine. I'll get your stupid kunai, Mr. Elite." He grumbled as he grabbed a hold of the trunk.

"Hold it." Kakashi spoke again now moving forward. "I believe you are forgetting two very important details of what makes a true Shinobi." He didn't even seemed peeved at the name Kiba had even called him, but looked amused. He motioned to another Elite, one called Umino Iruka who was holding a pair of weights in his hands. They were simply 10 lbs weights and weren't so heavy. What they were for, none of the recruits nor Sakura was sure but they knew they were about to find out. "This weight, gentlemen, represents Discipline." Kakashi spoke as he took one weight and held it up before taking the other. "And this one represents Determination." And then the silver haired ninja dropped them right into Kiba's hands. "You will need both of these to reach the kunai. Without them, you fail. So the objective is this, climb the tree with these weights in your hands. They must always be in your hands. You don't have them, you fail the test. You drop these weights, pick them up and try again." And he backed away to give Kiba some space. "Now, begin, Inuzuka."

Kiba frowned at the Elite with confusion but then he looked at the weights in his hands. He wasn't really sure what Kakashi wanted him to do. It wasn't going to be easy to climb a tree with something in his hands but he was not going to let some Elite Shinobi make a fool out of him again. But still...Kiba turned his eyes back onto Kakashi, almost glaring. "How in the hell do you expect me to climb a tree without my hands?" He demanded.

Kakashi was smirking, everyone could tell that he was. "Use your feet then. There are ways of climbing a tree without your hands." He told him simply.

Frowning again, Kiba muttered a few choice words before putting the weights down on the ground and then unzipped his thick coat. Without another word, he pulled Akamaru out of his jacket and set him down on the ground. Then he tried to climb the tree.

Unfortunately, he slipped and fell flat onto his butt with a yelp.

And immediately, everyone started to laugh as the young man went bright red from embarrassment and rage before he tried it again. However, Sakura was not laughing. She was actually frowning with confusion as she stared up at the tree, trying to collect her thoughts. She wasn't even sure it was possible to climb a tree without hands. It just couldn't be done, could it? But apparently it could. Otherwise, Kakashi wouldn't have told Kiba to do it. He didn't seem the type to joke around at all.

After nearly the fiftith time of falling out of the tree and everyone laughed, Kakashi nodded to the other Elite Shinobi. And to every one of the new recruits' shock, the Elites all threw kunai up into the air until there were several of them stuck in branches. Two Elites put down a large box, which were filled with several 10 Lbs weights.

"The rest of you, get two weights each and join Inuzuka since you all want to laugh about it." Kakashi told them seriously. "For every single one of you, there is a kunai waiting up in the trees for you. Get those kunai, and you will have my respect. Until then, prepare yourselves. You are in for a very rough training." He gave a few young men a look for already grumbling as the recruits started forward to do what they were told. "The more you complain, the more harsher the training will be. Because you lot are boys. And I need men for this war with Orochimaru and his men. It's time to grow up and become a real man. Now, start climbing."

So one by one, the other recruits grabbed weights and stood in front their tree to start on the lesson. Sakura decided to take a little more time though by trying to figure out a stragedy of how to get up the tree with the weights in her hands. She wasn't exactly sure how she would do it, but she knew she had to try. She wanted that respect from Hatake Kakashi, and from every other person. She paused to watch a few of the others try to get up the tree but they came flying back down, landing hard in the grass. And when she noticed Kakashi giving her a cool look for taking her time, she began to try.

Unfortunately, she did not fare any better than the real boys did. She slipped and fell every single time she tried to get up the tree, landing hard on her butt. She yelped every time but like everyone, she got back up and tried again.

The Shinobi, recruits and Elites spent the entire day trying to get up the trees, and by the end of the day, every single boy, including Sakura, failed to get up the tree. It was a little disappointing to Sakura that she failed the first day, but she was at least a little relieved that she was not the only one who failed. She was more worried about how hard the training was going to be though. Exactly, how hard was the training going to be? She didn't know, but she knew she was going to find out very soon.


	6. Chapter 6

The weeks slowly passed with each harsh day for Sakura, and every day, at the end of the day, she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and she was slowly slipping down to her knees on how heavy it was. The training she was going under was an understatement to what she believed. It was very harsh but she knew that it was for the best.  
As the day began each and every morning, Sakura woke up to the morning activities, sometimes a few of the other young men yanking up her stakes and letting the tent collapse on her or throwing icy cold water on her just for fun. But she did her best to keep her game face on. She didn't complain out loud when she joined the young men, even though a few of the Elites actually took care to asking her what had happened when she was soaking wet. Instead of telling them the truth, she just told them that she accidently knocked over her canteen full of water and it spilt all over her through the night. She hardly sold anyone out, even though she could easily have done so.

The training, itself, was not as easy as her father used to tell her about when he was in the army, serving the Shinobi Army. All of the new recruits began to learn multiple techniques of jutsu. The beginning lessons of the day were always Taijutsu. Hatake Kakashi and the other Elites began teaching them those first. Some of the lessons they had began teaching the recruits were a cinch to Sakura, for Suka had taught her quite a few moves.

Truth be told, she impressed a few of the Elites with what she already knew, but never Kakashi. He never showed any of the Elites his true emotions. He was always wearing a mask of emotionless. And wearing the mask to hide the bottom half of his face made things worst. No one could tell if he was smile, frowning or anything.

To the Sakura and the young men, Hatake Kakashi was just rock in their opinion. Cool and hard on everyone.

However, as Sakura went through each lesson with the men, she was always the butt of every joke. And it wasn't any easier when the men played practical jokes on her. During one of the Taijutsu lessons, while everyone was learning many varieties of kicks, one of the young men had snuck up behind her and put a poor mouse down the back of her shirt.

Unfortunately, Sakura was deathly scared of mice. She was like any other woman when it came to rodents like mice and rats.

So when she felt it wriggling around in her shirt, against her bandaged back, she could not stop herself from screaming as she began to thrash around to get it out. She knew it was probably stupid to scream but none of the other men seemed to even notice. The recruits just burst into laughter as they watched her. Even some of the Elites laughed her dance around, digging at her back to get the mouse out.  
The only ones not laughing was Kakashi, Naruto, Rock Lee and surprisingly, Hyuuga Neji. Instead, he was giving the young man responsible a silent scolding, telling him that it was the act of a child for putting a mouse down anyone's shirt.

But they weren't laughing anymore when Kakashi angrily moved forward to make her stop and she hit him right in the stomach while she was thrashing around. No one dared to laugh because of the dangerous look on the serious Shinobi's face. Sakura, like always, received the blunt end of the knife though. As soon as she managed to open the bottom of her shirt and let the mouse drop out, she was suddenly finding herself right in front of a very angry looking Kakashi. So the mouse was the least of her problems.

Kakashi just glared at Sakura before he grabbed a hold of her shirt and shoved her off to the side. "Run laps, Haruno, around the training grounds. Don't stop until I say so."

"Yes, sir." Sakura sighed as she began immediately. "I'm sorry for hitting you, sir."

It was actually a big surprise to Sakura though as she made her run around the training camp, when she discovered that Hyuuga Neji had scolded the young man who had stuffed the rodent down her shirt. He hadn't seemed the type who would do that. He was actually very quiet and stern like. She was also surprised that every time she passed by the young men while they were still working on their jutsu, Neji would look right at her, meeting her eyes with his strange pure white ones.  
In the beginning, when she had actually noticed his eyes, she had thought he was blind because he didn't seem to have pupils. But she slowly learned that he was not blind at all. He could see very well, more than well. When working on Taijutsu with other young men, he always caught the other's attacks before delivering his own. He also knew every time Naruto was making faces at him and he would glare at him.

It was still interesting to know why Neji seemed interested in Sakura. He was always looking at her, almost observing her every movement. So she tried most of her time to avoid his very eye sight or acted more and more like a guy each time. She did not want him to know that she was a girl.  
Sakura also found it funny when Lee-Maito Rock stood up for her once in a while. Especially when a few of the other guys called her ugly.

He would always say, "You're just jealous because he's better looking than you."

"Careful, Lee. You're making yourself gay, even though, everyone knows you are." A young man named Sai remarked. While everyone was sniggering, Rock glared at him but muttered under his breath, "Well it's true."

For days, Sakura got the same treatment every day and night. The young men played cruel jokes on her, causing her to do something that would always anger Kakashi and she would end up being punished. He didn't even seem aware that anyone was playing jokes on her, and if he did, he didn't do anything about it. It was then the Chuunin, Iruka remarked to her, "He knows they're doing it, Haruno. It's just he expects you to stand up for your own. You're old enough to stand up for yourself and not let anyone push you around, you know."

Sakura understood immediately and started standing up for her own self, though Naruto would help. They didn't do very well though. Sometimes the leers the other young men gave the pink haired 'boy' frightened her but she would keep a chin up and would leer right back. And sometimes the fight that would break out got too physical and Sakura would find herself with a black eye. But at least the other guy looked worst than she did. She proved to them to not underestimate them.

Of course, that never went well with the silver haired Shinobi commander, Kakashi.

Every single time she got into trouble, any one of the young men for that matter, they would be forced to run laps around the camp or do so many push ups that their arms burned with pain by the time Kakashi let them go. They all learned that he was very strict and he did not like rule breakers at all. During the time of training, only a few of the recruits had been kicked out of the camp and were forced to go home with a dishonor. So it was clear that Kakashi was not one to joke around with very often.

As the month slowly passed, Sakura was sure that she would never, ever get so many bruises, cuts, and scratches again in her life. The training was unbearable but she refused to break. Whenever she came close to just deciding to give up, she reminded herself of what happened with her father and she would try again. Unfortunately, every night when she went to bed, she was so sore and achy.  
Her new beginning friend with Naruto was starting to look up though. He wasn't so grumpy with her anymore and he eventually cracked rude jokes with her. Some of them she didn't laugh at, but she did find him amusing. And he was actually starting to consider her as a friend.

"You know you're going to fail, don't you?" the dead weight recruit, Sai remarked as everyone sat down for dinner one night. "You should go home because you're weak." And then he went over to a table full of smirking men. Sakura gave him a dark look as she watched him but glanced at Naruto when he shook his head. "Don't listen to Mr. Emo over there, Zaku! He's just jealous because you can kick higher than he can." He then made a face. "Actually, you have the highest kick any one of us do. I swear if I tried to kick as high as you, I'd bust my balls open."  
And Sakura blushed hot red at that crude remark but she did her best to hide it by dropping her chopsticks and getting under the table to pick them up again. "Ha, ha, ha. Whatever." She told him but she sounded so uneasy. But then she caught several eyes on her as she came back up, still slightly pink. Neji of course, as well as a few other young men.  
To her embarrassment, Hatake Kakashi was watching her too from the Jounin table. His dark eye was always on her nowadays. It was like he was trying to figure something out and it terrified her to think that he was figuring out her true identity. She was trying her best to not be so girlish and she even tried some of the things Master Minato hat told her to do. She spat on the ground, burped out loud, did things that she knew her mother would KILL her for doing. But the one thing she hated the most about how girlish she acted, it was every time she blushed.

It was worst on the hottest days, as the season grew later into early summer. The days grew too warm that the training was harder on the recruits. Sure, Sakura could handle the rainy days and the strong windy days but how she really despised the hot days.

The reason why?

Well, while she had to keep her shirt on and nearly die of heat, the men could take their shirts off. In her opinion, it was like heaven to a girl. There were so many men with such well defined chests and manly builds that could make a girl just drool. She almost did herself the very first hot day when everyone did.

Even Hatake Kakashi took off his shirt and he was not some gangly looking guy either.

Unlike the other men, he did keep on a tank top while he removed his vest and jacket but it was still tight enough to show Sakura exactly how well built the man was. And he had what looked like a rock solid chest. He was definitely a soldier, she could tell. His biceps were not extremely large like a few of the other Elites' were but he was still strong enough.  
However, there was one other thing. Kakashi never took off his mask. He always wore it, nor did he ever take off his forehead protector. He always had it pulled down over his left eye. So Sakura, nor any of the other men, ever got to see his full face.

At dinner time, Sakura could have sworn that he would take off the mask so he could eat, or at least eat his food from under the mask but he never did. He didn't really eat with the men. From what she heard from the others, he always ate in his tent, alone. Never with anyone else. Sakura wondered why he wore his mask. Could he be badly scarred from a fight or something? Could he have some kind of disfiguration?

There were silent bets going around through the recruits about what Kakashi really looked like. A lot of the young men kept saying that they were sure that he was a harelip, or he had scars all over his neck and face like the Shinobi, Ibiki did. So a large group of young men began to bet about what the Shinobi commander looked like.  
However, when one young man tried to find out late in the evening, he not only got kicked out of the training camp but he also got almost every inch of his life beaten out of him. Kakashi did come up with some really harsh punishments. What more to it, the young man failed to get a look at Kakashi's face.

Sakura was worried as the month started to pass into another month. The men were all treating her wrongly, most did anyway while a few left her alone. She was getting worried that someone would finally notice that she was not a boy. She knew that she was doing very well to pretending to be a boy, but it didn't exactly help her when she had her monthly PMS week. She did her best to try and keep her girlish habits at a limit. But she did notice that as she fought with herself, she was getting some raised eyebrows. Kakashi being one of them. She was wondering if anyone actually started to wonder if she wasn't a boy.

And eventually, in her horror, one of the men finally decided to confront her about it.

It had been almost in the middle of the second month of her training when one of the men confronted Sakura about her true identity. The day had started out as horrible as the others had and it had drizzled some on Shinobi. The training exercise the Elite Shinobi were making the recruits go through was a survival exercise. They were to run around in the Forest of Death, trying to find a certain point in the forest before the time limit was up.  
Sakura was by herself, which she preferred anyway as she made her way through the trees, trying very careful to not get caught by anyone. She had discovered that there weren't just the other young men she had to worry about, or the Elite Shinobi, who would attack them and spar with each young man they met, but it was the giant snakes living in the forest. She didn't like snakes anymore than she did with mice so she did her best to avoid any snake she came across. Unfortunately, she had a run in with only one. It was to her luck that she didn't have to fight it. She just ran away, not wanting to fight the gigantic creature.

And to her anguish, her bindings came loose.

Finding shelter in the roots of a giant tree, Sakura looked around to make sure that there was no one around. She even listened very hard for any sound at all. She could hear the other young men far off in the distance but they didn't sound too close. She made sure that she was completely out of view before she removed her shirt and looked down at her bindings.  
To her disgust, she found that the bindings were getting too ragged and dirty. The dirt and her sweat was starting to stain them and it really made her nose crinkle. She knew she needed new bindings. Maybe she could try and steal some out of the medical tent after everyone was asleep. But she needed new bindings. For now, the old ones would have to work. Sakura sighed as she began to unwrap the bindings, trying to adjust them.

"You need new bindings, you know? Those ones are too old and worn down." Someone said calmly from somewhere outside the roots.

Either way, Sakura yelped in surprise and fear as she nearly jumped high into the air, only to hit her head on the roof of the roots she was in. She had not heard anyone approach, much less seen anyone. But it wasn't just that had worried her.  
It was the fact that she was busted.  
Quickly, Sakura snatched up her shirt and pulled it back on while looking wildly around for whoever owned that voice. She half expected to a see a very angry Hatake Kakashi standing on a tree branch, looking ready to leap down and kill her for treason. It was either him or Rock Lee she was expecting. But it was neither one. It was actually someone she only half expected.

It was Hyuuga Neji.

Neji was actually sitting on a high tree branch, in plain view of Sakura but he wasn't looking at her at all. In fact, his eyes were closed while he had his arms folded nicely behind his head. It looked like he was asleep and Sakura would have sworn that he was if he hadn't spoken to her only moments ago.

"Ne-Neji?!" Sakura gasped, but then she shook her head as she tightened her shirt around her, swallowing hard. "Uh….h-hi! I didn't see you up there!"

The black haired ninja snorted before he lazily looked down at her, a light smirk on his face. "Obviously. Otherwise you wouldn't have been flashing off those bandages you're wearing." He told her as he shifted up into a more comfortable sitting position.  
Sakura painfully winced. So he had seen her bandages. But there was a possibility that he didn't know that she was a girl. So she decided to try and lie her way out of trouble. "Oh, ye-yeah. About these," She swallowed hard as she tried her best to keep up her Zaku voice. "I….uh, kind of hurt myself the other d-day. I fell onto a tree and cut myself! Nasty cut, if you ask me." She winced how pathetic she sounded but she hoped that Neji bought it.

"Please." Neji said rolling his eyes as he looked back up at the canopy above them. "I know who you are, Haruno girl. I know what you are." Sakura paled to completely white. "You obviously don't know a thing about my clan, do you? If you did know about my clan, you would know that we possess the Byakugan Eye." He then shifted his weight on the tree and slid himself down to the ground.

Sakura's throat was too dry and it hurt to swallow. "B-Byakugan…..eye?"

Neji looked directly into her eyes as he stalked towards her, his hand now digging into his hip pouch. "Yes. The Byakugan eye. The All Seeing Eye. I can see through objects with them. Through trees, buildings, whatever." He then let his eyes flicker over Sakura's body before looking back into her eyes. "I can see your girlish form. I know you're a girl."

It was a shock to even hear something like that, much less that last bit. Sakura was alarmed by every word and she couldn't' stop herself from over-reacting. It was an instinct to do it. She quickly wrapped her arm over her chest and she found her hand swinging at Neji, to slap him across the face.  
However, Neji seemed to have seen it coming.  
He took a quick step back and caught her hand with his before she could hit him. And when Sakura looked at him with wide eyes, he smirked smugly at her. "And I can see a person's muscles tense up when they're about to do something." He told her before he held up what was in his hand.

To be honest, Sakura had expected him to pull out a kunai to kill her, but he hadn't. Instead, he was holding up fresh bandages. "Wha-?!"

Neji shook his head as he placed the bandages into her hand before letting it go and stepping back. "Here. Use these. They should last for a while." He then turned away from her, as if he was going to let her have some privacy or keep watch.

"….How….how long have you known?" Sakura asked uneasily as she held the bandages in her hand, still not making a move to replace her old ones. She almost winced on how pathetic she sounded but she had to know. How long had Neji known? Did this explain why he was always looking at her?

Neji turned half way back, only glancing at her from the side of his eyes but then he shook his head and looked off into the trees, keeping watch for anything. "I've always known, since you even first stepped into the camp. Even with all the crude habits you've been using to fool everyone else. I could see that you were no boy. Plus, I am Hyuuga Hinata's cousin. She does tend to tell me about her friends now and then." He must have sensed Sakura's cringe because he turned fully back, seeing her blushing furiously and looking very afraid. "Relax. She doesn't tell anyone other than me. And I haven't told anyone that you're a girl. I don't think anyone else knows. And even if they did, they haven't said a word about it. Usually if anyone did know, they would have said something right about now."

Sakura still looked uneasy. "What about Rock? He seems to know?" She told him, in a low voice.

Neji snorted as he looked directly in her eyes. "He doesn't have a clue. He's always like that. His adopted father, Gai has taught him to never treat beautiful things wrongly. They're a bunch of 'beauty and youthful' loving fanatics." He explained before turning his back on her again. "Go ahead and put on the new bandages. I'll keep watch and I promise I won't look."

"Right. You can probably see through the back of your head." Sakura said dryly.

Neji rolled his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder at her then back towards the trees. "No. That's not how the Byakugan works. I have to be looking directly at something to see through it. Now, get those bandages on right now. We're running low on time to passing this training session."

Slowly, Sakura did so after moving back within the roots of the trees, trying to hide behind a large one. She was also keeping her eyes on Neji, eyeing him with suspicion. Exactly why was he helping her? Was he trying to trap her to reveal herself to the Elites? And why didn't he say anything about her being a girl and not a boy? "You…..you haven't told anyone about me, have you?" She saw him shake his head. "Why? I'm a…a girl in a men's only training camp. Doesn't…..doesn't that….annoy you?"

Again, Neji snorted as if he found it funny. He didn't turn around though, but kept his eyes looking towards the trees. "Not really. Should I be annoyed?"

Sakura shook her head as she removed her shirt and started wrapping the bandages around her chest, not wanting to remove the old ones just yet. She would do that later when she wasn't around Neji. "Well….yeah. It should annoy you. I'm a girl. Women don't have business in war, right? It's not allowed." She told him.

Neji only tilted his head slightly to the side as if he was going to look at her but when Sakura jumped in alarm, he straightened it again. "If you are here, dressed as a man and trying to act like one, then you must have business in this war. Allowed or not." He then turned around when Sakura did her shirt up again and she moved out from under the roots. "But question is, what is that business? I'm curious to know how a pink haired girl could be so brave to want to risk her life in the war. Surely you're not here just for a thrill. It all depends on what you're answer is if I help you or not."

Sakura looked at him with surprise when he said that. He wanted to help her? But why? "Why do you want to help me? I thought you hated me. The first day here, I made Shikamaru knock…"

Neji rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Why, Haruno, do you think I shouted at Shikamaru for getting food on me and not you? I know you punched him and sent him flying all over the table, but it wasn't your fault. The procrastinated, good for nothing fool had it coming." He told her, earning a surprised look. "I heard what he said to you. The insult about your father. And he had no right to dishonor your father like that. Epsecially when it is Haruno Daisuka."

"You….So you do know my father's name?" Sakura asked looking troubled.

Neji shook his head as he shifted his weight to the other foot. "Who doesn't know Daisuka? He was once a guard of the Hokage, himself. He saved the life of the Hokage's son. He's famous that way. But no one doesn't know much about his clan, know about you. So like I said before, you're safe." He paused. "For now. So why are you here? Why are you pretending to be a man? Don't you have a brother or a male clan member?"

Slowly Sakura shook her head as a low sigh escaped her. "No. I have no brothers. My father is the only male in our clan, besides our hands. But even they are not apart of our clan." She told him before noticing the question on his face. She knew what he was about to ask next. "And the reason my father isn't coming to the Training Camp, himself is because He wasn't fit to fight. He has a limp in his leg and it would have killed him. I couldn't have let him come. He would have died. And I love my father so much." She sighed with much sadness. "That is why I became Haruno Zaku. To save his life and fight for my own honor."

There was a long silence as Neji stared at her, almost in a dull way. He didn't look impressed but then he smirked and turned away. "That'll do. I'll help you then and watch your back."

Sakura was surprised again but instead of asking for a better reason of why he wanted to help her, she just smiled. "Thank you, Neji. I could use all the help I could get. Especially with pretending how to be a boy." She told him. Neji only shrugged it off before starting to walk. "We better hurry. We have only ten minutes left before the time runs out." He told her.

"Well then, why don't we run through the tree tops." Sakura told him before she quickly hurried towards a tree and leapt up to the nearest branch. She looked like she was going to lose her balance and topple right off. But to Neji's surprise, she did not fall out of the tree at all but turned around to look at him…..as she was standing at an angle on the tree. An angle that she should be falling off but wasn't. "Well, you coming?"

Neji snorted as he looked up at and folded his arms. "You know how to control your chakra, don't you? You know how to channel it to your feet so he don't fall off the tree branch." He guessed.

"Well, yeah. My dad is Daisuka after all. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean he hasn't taught me anything." Sakura said smiling innocently. "It's actually really easy if you know how to control your chakra." She told him. Neji just smirked and shook his head before he was quickly up the tree and they were running along the tree branches as fast as they could.

To Sakura's greatest pleasure, she and Neji made it right on time before the time was up.

The other young men couldn't believe it though. Haruno Zaku was standing beside Neji as if they were friends. They were even talking quietly to each other and when one of the young men decided to make a crack at Zaku, he suddenly found Neji giving him a very dry stare. "Now listen up, you idiot. You mess with him, you mess with me from now on." He warned him darkly. Zaku is a better man than you are. And he surely better at ninjutsu than you are as well." He scolded him before walking with Sakura to stand off with Naruto.

After that little blow up, none of the young men decided to taunt her again. They only watched as Sakura, Neji and Naruto stood together, looking around as they waited for the last men showed up.

Even Kakashi was watched her as she stood with the other three, soon to be four when Sasuke decided to move over to stand next to Neji. He seemed at least a little impressed that 'Zaku' had actually made it on time before he turned and lectured those who were late, making them run laps when they returned to the camp. At least things were starting to change only a little.


End file.
